Remnants of Reach:Team JAMR Chronicles
by ForsakenSpartan
Summary: Reach, 2552. Upon discovery of Covenant teams on the fortress-world, Team NOBLE, aided by their four new recruits, recover 8 teens from another planet, possibly another universe. Unknown to NOBLE, these teens possess the fighting skills of a Spartan, and upon recovery, they join the UNSC as team NOBLE's eight other-worldly recruits, but the Fall of Reach will cost them dearly.
1. Noble Actual

**AN:Okay, so this is my alternate take of what would happen if team RWBY ended up on REACH with team JNPR and they'd end up meeting the Nobles, of which Team JAMR is part right now. (AKA, the Alternate-Universe to my story RWBY:Souls of the Spartans)**

* * *

 _ **Remnants of Reach:Team JAMR Chronicles**_

 _ **Reach. 2552. Viery Territory, 5 miles from Visegrad Extraplanetary Comms relay. Currently en-route to UNSC Forward Outpost 'GLADIUS'**_

The clouded sky of the UNSC Fortress-world Reach seemed far less calm than it usually was. The clouds were dark, with the blue-shining aura on the sky, darkened by the cloud layers. Aboard one of two UNSC LRVs, the famous Warthog Reconnaissance/Combat vehicle rolling across the hilly terrain outside a Forward Outpost, the leader of the Spartan 4-man fireteam known as Team JAMR, examined his helmet. The gold-tinted visor of his RECON Helmet shone in contrast to the black cover that surrounded the visor slit. Around it, the oval-triangular geometry of the helmet was colored bright-red, with white stripes running across it.

Lieutenant Jonah-B312, the seventeen-year-old Hyper-lethal Spartan-III Soldier, now trying to focus on accepting his new callsign, _NOBLE SIX,_ turned back toward the second Warthog, a transport one, on which his three team-mates resided. The three other Spartans had their helmets already on their heads. Jonah's second in command, Sergeant Alexander-B040, also known as 'Fixer', the team's elite Hacker and Covenant Tech Specialist who wore the large-visor EVA helmet with a black visor, gave Jonah a thumbs up, to which the Spartan answered with a nod. Behind him, a Spartan, carrying a bladed weapon, the Katana he had so meticulously built back on Onyx from scrap metal and plastic, was shining on his armor. His blue, T-Shaped visor of the CQB Helmet turned toward Jonah and nodded too. Michael-B057, said 'Ice King', the calm and collected of the team, his armor bright white. Alex' armor was painted jet-black. On the back seat of the hog, resided Jonah's last team-mate. On his back was strapped a 40-milimeter drum-mag Grenade Launcher and his armor, HAZOP, painted bright-golden. Robert-B062, 'Scorch'. The boy saluted Jonah, probably grinning behind the helmet.

Jonah leaned back into the Warthog's seat, then turned his helmet. He slid it onto his head and heard the whoosh of air as the Helmet sealed in place. His Heads-Up Display lit up, a bright-blue tint. On top, his shields and health were displayed, all full. On the lower-left corner of his helmet resided his Motion Tracker. It flickered with several golden dots, including himself. The dots identified themselves as the Marines aboard the vehicles and his team-mates. His scanning distance was set to 200 meters around him. He grinned, nodded, then held onto the front of the car's metallic Titanium-A bars as the road got bumpier.

Within a few minutes, the squad found themselves stopping in the middle of a large UNSC Military compound. Two Falcons were landed in the middle and around the Landing Zone, makeshift UNSC Modular Buildings lay occupied as barracks and bunks for the UNSC troops stationed in the area. Jonah got off the Warthog, feet-first onto the ground below. It felt good to walk again after, through most of the transfer to Reach, the boys were cryofrozen and carried on gurneys, then dumped on to the Hogs for another three hours of the trip to Camp Gladius. As the squad walked forward, they met behind a Falcon, with Michael stretching.

"It has been a long road to here, Lieutenant." Michael stated in his usually dull voice. Jonah nodded.

"Talk about it..." Alex whined, stretching his arm over his head. "I'm still numb..."

"Let's keep this professional, JAMR... We're in a bigger Fireteam now." Jonah said as they continued to walk past the Falcons.

"I concur." Michael said, calculate. "And one with a high degree of respect among the UNSC Armed Forces."

"Yeah. We're finally part of the A-Game now. No more Innies, I hope." Robert said, his arms crossed to his chest. The squad walked up several steps, their feet clanging against the metallic grating of the elevated stairwell. Upon first stepping into the massive, darkened cage of metal, they heard a voice speaking, stiff, full of resolve, very military-like. Colonel Holland.

 _"Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night."_ He stated " _All signals flatlined at 26:00 hours. I responded with Trooper Fireteams which have since been declared_ MIA _."_

"And now you're sending us." A male voice answered questioningly. Ahead of the Spartans, emerged a figure wearing a very heavily-modified EVA Armor. The helmet had a carved-in face, much like that of a ghoul, a dark and white scratched contrast to the helmet's Golden-covered background. On his left shoulder, a security pad resided with the sheath for a bent knife. The 4 Spartans saw the owner of the armor sharpening his knife on his pauldron, which made Robert grin.

" _The Office of Naval Intelligence believes deployment of a Spartan Team is a Gross misalocation of Valuable resources... I disagree..."_ Holland said, a bit arrogant in his resolve. A skeletal prosthetic limb appeared ahead of the Spartans, a right arm, snapping them out of their stare toward the supposed CQC Specialist.. Ahead of them, a young woman stepped into the light. Tanned, compared to Jonah and team Noble, she looked at them, then ahead and spoke, a thick accent adding to her voice.

"Commander."

She took the attention of the two men talking to Holland. One of them was tanned, had a crew-cut hair and a blue, heavily modified armor as well, while the other carried a munitions pack on his back, had the heavy-duty armor of the UNSC's Spartans. Clearly the Heavy-Weapon Specialist. The latter grinned, then waved Jonah and his friends forward. They stepped to the side of the woman and snapped-to.

"So this is our new Number Six?" The heavy inquired. "I didn't know he'd bring Friends..."

"Kat," Said the Spartan beside them. He motioned toward the four with his knife. "Got through their files?"

She sighed, then nodded "Only the parts that weren't covered in Black Ink."

The commander turned back toward the com relay and leaned onto the box, then sighed and spoke "Anyone claim responsibility sir?"

 _"ONI Thinks it might be the local insurrection..."_

Alexander groaned and whispered _"Just fucking wonderful..."_ so soft that not even the people five centimeters from him heard it.

" _Five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a Relay to take out or eyes and ears, then stole two frigates from Drydock."_ Holland's voice stiffened. " _We_ can't _let that happen here... Reach is to damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One!"_

"Sir, Consider it done." The Commander said giving a slight nod.

" _Then I'll see you on the other side, Spartan. Holland out."_

The Commander turned toward the group of Spartans, who stiffened almost immediately. He walked up to them and nodded. "Lieutenant, Master Sergeant, Warrant Officers." He spoke, receiving salutes from all 4 Spartans. Jonah nodded. "Lieutenant-Commander, Sir."

"I'm Carter." The commander stated, crossing his arms. "Noble Team's leader. That's Kat, Noble Two," He continued, pointing at the woman wearing the blue Armor. "Emile and Jorge, Four and Five." He pointed at the first one, the skull-helmet one, now known as Emile, then at the heavy, Jorge. "Six, Seven, with me. Eight, Nine with Kat, Jorge and Emile."

As the group stepped out of the barracks, Carter slid his helmet back onto his head, then stared at them, his visor shining as he talked to them. "Not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant," He stated, a good start to a conversation. "You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled!" He continued as they stepped aboard one of the Falcons, on which a soldier resided, holding a sniper, his scout helmet and Ghillie suit covered his armor's chestplate. Carter looked at Six and Seven, then sighed. "Me? I'm just happy to have Noble back up to Full Strength, and with your little 'wolfpack', twice the Strength. Just one thing, I've seen your files! Even the parts ONI Censors didn't want me to!" He continued as he signaled the pilot. The Falcon Aircraft's engines whirred to life and the propellers started to spin. "I'm glad to have your skillsets, all of you, but now we're a team! Your little Wolves are gonna have to get used to running with a lot more dogs in the Pack, understood?"

"Loud and clear, Lieutenant-Commander!" Jonah said, grabbing his Sniper Rifle. He cocked the weapon, then shouldered it and looked at Alex prepare his DMR. He nodded, loading a clip within the rifle. It locked with a satisfying _click,_ then Alex gave him a thumbs up. They looked toward the third Spartan, which now read onto their HUDs as Jun, NOBLE's elite sniper. He nodded to them, then loaded a clip into his sniper and spoke, a thick accent like Kat's "Welcome to Reach!"

The Falcons took off, plumes of dust and smoke dusting upward. The craft turned 180 degrees, then flew toward a mashup of clouds that looked far too weird, lit up bright blue in the distance. Whether considered a promising sign or not, was up to the NOBLEs' imagination. Jonah looked down below at the ground rushing past them, then inhaled and exhaled. He was finally home... He was finally in the big league...

He was finally on _Reach_...

...

 ** _Falcons En-route to Visegrad Relay. Aboard Falcon-001, Lieutenant Jonah-B312, Callsign:NOBLE SIX. 5 Klicks out from Visegrad._**

As the Falcons rushed past a large, steep cliff-side, ahead, hanging off the edges were small concrete huts and homes, rounded and with perfect porches to watch whatever was coming toward the place from. Silver windmills spun in the distance, hanging off the hills and around the houses. A strong wind blew through the air around and Jonah saw leaves moving around in the trees that were on the edge too. The Spartan tapped his com, then set it to NOBLE's frequency.

"Listen up, Noble team, we're looking at a downed Relay outpost 50 klicks from Visegrad." Carter stated, examining the chopper on their left. "We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, then Kat and Seven are gonna bring it back online."

" _Get us under the hood, Commander."_ Kat said. Alex nodded, excited to see Kat's hacking skills first-hand. Jonah tapped Alex on the shoulder, then showed him to settle down. Alex breathed in, then exhaled slowly, relaxing as he looked at his friend, then nodded, continuing to examine his weapons loadout.

" _Sir, why would the Insurgents wanna cut off Reach from the rest of the Colonies?"_ Jorge inquired, holding his Machinegun close beside him. Carter sighed, then nodded.

"You get a chance, maybe you can ask'em, Jorge." He answered, nodding. Alex noticed Kat typing furiously on her Reader Tablet. She cued her mic, and with annoyance to her voice

 _"Commander, we just lost our link to HQ."_

"Backup channels?" Carter asked. Jonah could see how tensed the man was... Then again, so was he... He looked at his hands, examining the small twitches his fingers did from time-to-time due to anxiety. He leaned back, wrapping his fingers tightly around the Sniper Rifle's barrel, then looked toward Kat and Carter as they talked.

" _Nada."_ Kat Scoffed. " _Can't tell what's jamming us..."_

"You heard her, Nobles." Carter said, cocking his DMR. He looked at Jonah and Alex, who both nodded as they prepared their weapons, then spoke calmly "Dead Zone confirmed, Command will not be keeping us company on this mission."

" _Feeling lonely already, boss."_ Robert said Via TEAMCOM, probably grinning. The Falcons swung over the top of one of the cliffside residences, allowing Jonah to examine them close. The vehicles swung about as they reached a hill and the aircraft began descending. Jonah stiffened, tapped his com and set it up properly. He reloaded his sniper, hoisted it off the ground, then looked to Alex, who was ready as well. As the vehicles prepared to land, Jonah looked to Carter, who readied his weapon too, then handed Jonah an Assault Rifle. The Spartan nodded, stood up, slung his sniper on his back, then grabbed the MA37K and reloaded it. Carter queued his Com.

" _Distress beacon, down below!_ " Kat yelled.

"Could be the missing troopers." Carter mused. "Shut off the central lighting, keep your distance. Let's make this quiet." The Spartan said. The aircraft landed, without making a sound, the only noise around being the Propellers of the helicopters. As the craft reached level ground, Carter, Jonah and Alex disembarked, while Jun stayed aboard. The Spartan shouldered his Sniper, then gave a thumbs up to Carter. The man made a forward hand signal and the Nobles rounded up around him. Jonah nodded to Robert and Michael, who had, by now, readied their Assault Rifles too.

"Alright, Nobles! Move out!" Carter yelled, then pointed forward. Jonah nodded to his team and the four split first, heading off. Ahead of Jonah, a large rock sat wide in the middle of the strange field. The Spartan jumped on top of the rock, climbed it in three moves, then pulled out his sniper, scoping the house ahead in. Down one of the dirt paths that lead to the cliffside, which was unreachable thanks to a bunch of wooden fences placed on the edge, the strange bird inhabitants of Reach, the Moas, ran. These ostrich-like creatures moved fast when scared and some of them were plenty scared of the Spartans around them. They turned tail and ran again as space rippled ahead of them. Jonah tensed.

The Spartans moved ahead slowly, then stopped a good 10 feet away from whatever was going on. The anomaly flashed twice, then a bright white light blasted in the Spartans' eyes. Their visors polarized to match the damned thing and, ahead, now waited a bright-golden Slipspace portal. The Spartans clicked the safeties off their weapons and Jonah waited at the top of the rock. He gave a hand signal to Jun, who nodded, then scoped in as well, right at the heart of the portal.

"Spartans... Hold your ground..." Carter said, holding his DMR pointed forward.

"What the hell is it?" Alex asked worriedly as he crouched, steadying his DMR on his armor's left kneecap. "Lieutenant Commander Kat?"

"Slipspace portal... I _think_..." She whispered the last part. "Faint Cherenkov radiation... Very faint..." She stated, holding her pistol with her robotic hand, while in her good one resided her Reader/Scanner. "Almost nonexistent..."

"Isn't that... Impossible? Slipspace'd be sending out a load of Cherenkov Rads..." Robert asked, his Assault Rifle level for the thing as well.

"It is." Jorge said, his machinegun loaded and ready. "And yeah... But I have a feeling this is something else... Entirely..."

As the Spartans kept their tense stance on the portal, it flashed brightly once, twice, then the Spartans heard thumps in the middle of the globe of light. Eight, to be exact. As the portal screeched, it closed in on itself, revealing a small scorch mark on the, otherwise, green grass below. The heat still seemed present, but when the smoke it showed evaporated, a pile of people revealed themselves. All were wearing strange armors and carried even stranger weapons. One of them, the one at the top, groaned in pain. It was a girl, 15 years of age, no older, no younger, with pale skin like a Spartans, red hair that went darker from the tips up to the top of the head, and she wore a cloak and a strange skirt.

"Ufuh~..." The girl grunted, pushing herself up and off the pile. "I can't feel my legs..."

"You're one to whine, Ruby..." A blonde boy stated, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. "I think you hit me with your boot... My head's killing me..." The boy carried a strange sword in an even stranger sheath and had small pads of armor around his torso and arms. He looked ahead at the Spartans as his blue eyes widened in shock, then stood up. "Uhh... Guys?!"

'Ruby' snapped her eyes opened and gasped. "Uwaah~... Who are you guys?"

"I Could ask you the same thing." Kat said, cocking her pistol. "Stand up, all of you!"

The others gasped too, now relieved of whatever shock they had from the travel, and untangled, looking more surprised and stronger than before. Within a few seconds, Noble faced a fully armed... Bunch of high-school kids... Jonah sighed then shook his head. Reminded him too much of them now. One of the group of eight, a blonde, stood up and charged toward Robert, taking off with a detonation. Robert parried a strike coming from her fist, then, with a roar, twisted her hand and kicked her back, leveling his Assault Rifle for her. She grinned, then, as Robert's AR Chattered, dodged graciously. She struck once, busting his shields.

The redhead, Ruby, stopped the blonde from attacking by stepping between them. Jonah ran toward them and took position, back-to-back with the redhead, stopping Robert from trying another attack. He shook his head, then looked to the other Nobles "With all due respect, sir, weapons down! These guys aren't from here, and that's a fact!"

"How do you know, Six?" Emile asked, holding his shotgun level forward for one of them, a girl holding a strange hammer. She had a pink-white-black Color scheme and ginger hair... Alongside emerald eyes and a devilish grin on her face... It scared them, the intended effect, needless to say. Michael was horrified.

"He's right!" The redhead stated, showing the blonde to calm down again. She looked to Carter. "You'll have to forgive my sister... She's impulsive like that..."

"Impulsive? Ruby, robo-girl was pointing a pistol at us!" The blonde demanded, crossing her arms to her chest. Ruby nodded.

"And? If we showed them we're friendly, you may not've ended up receiving a kick in the back!" The redhead said, then stepped toward Carter and extended her hand. "I'm Ruby Rose... That there's my sister Yang Xiao-Long."

"Different family names?" Jonah asked, lowering his Assault Rifle. "Now, that's new..."

"Ahem." Jorge coughed, then looked to Carter. The Spartans locked glances through the visors and Jorge spoke again, calm.

"Shouldn't we be _doing_ something, Carter? Clock's ticking." He asked. Carter sighed, nodded, then signaled Noble to round up.

"Right... Everyone, on me!" He looked to Ruby "That means your gang too. We'll ask about everything later, but now, we've got a mission to do and can't just leave you wandering about... God knows what other mayhem your sister may cause."

"Hey!" Yang exclaimed, flailing her hands in anger. Robert and Emile snorted and both burst into laughter.

Ruby nodded, then looked around at her friends, who had straightened up by now, readying their weapons, then back to Carter. "Understood." She stated, then pulled out a box-like weapon, from behind which extended a spike with a trigger, like a rifle grip. "We'll be right behind you, mister..."

"Carter." Noble One said, nodding. He looked to his Spartans and the armed High-schoolers around them, then reloaded his DMR and pointed forward "C'mon. Nobles, double-time!"

The Spartans, followed by the group, moved at a fast sprint past running Moas, close to the cliff wall that moved high above them on the left and across the green grass that waved in the quiet wind. Jonah was farther back than his friends as he met up with the running Ruby behind them. The girl cocked her head toward him, then nodded. Jonah depolarized his visor, revealing his auburn eyes to the girl, a sight she could see even through the golden-tinted visor slit of his helmet. There was a scar across his right eye, not deep, but present, and on his nose. Again, not deep, but present, the marks of a warrior.

"I bet you must have a lot of questions!" Jonah yelled as they kept the pace up with the rest of the squad. The girl nodded.

"Yeah." She chirped, then looked to him. A wrinkle on the side of his cheek told the girl he smiled at her. He nodded, then repolarized his visor.

"You'll get them, as soon as we're done with this mission!" He answered, then checked his Assault Rifle. The counter read full, 32 rounds, making him smile. The Spartan nodded to Ruby, then ran ahead to the rest of his little 'pack'. Team JAMR looked as ready for combat as ever. Robbie was loading rounds in his Grenade Launcher on the go, really fast. He cocked and rocked it, then slung it on his back and gave Jonah a thumbs up. Carter shone his status light amber twice, then the Spartans looked ahead. He made a hand signal to slow down and they did. The High-schoolers who ended up behind slowed down too, as ahead, a small bungalow revealed itself, a house of the local farmers. A burning warthog lay ahead, with a destroyed bunch of wooden pallets.

A NAV Point shone on their Heads-Up Displays, right under the pallet. The squad took a defensive formation, a semicircle around Kat as she moved toward the pellets and pushed them off. On it, a red, blocky item lay on burned ground. Emile picked it up and tossed it to Kat, who caught it in her good hand and started examining it. She nodded, then dropped the red device onto the floor.

"It's definitely from our squad of missing Army Troopers." She stated. "Hmm..."

"What's up with the blasted Hog?" Robert asked, looking back at the vehicle.

"Looks like explosion marks to me." Alex said, then looked to Carter. The man nodded, then cued his mic.

"Jun, anything that could suggest an Innie bomb?" Carter asked, scanning the area. The kids closed in on the vehicle, examining it closely. Michael could hear whispers from the teens as they looked on at the vehicle and his eyes locked to one girl. She was snow-white, her hair, her clothing and her eyes were bright blue. She had a rapier at the side and had the posture of a soldier's, of a royal's. He was snapped out of his trance by Jonah hitting him in the shoulder. He nodded, then looked to Carter.

" _Hmm... Nothing... No radiation... No shrapnel, right?"_

"None." Alex stated, examining the ground and the car. "Unless you count the car."

"Could be plasma..." Answered Robert, examining the ground. "Then again..."

"It can't be, Nine... Not on Reach." Mused Jorge.

"Alright, Spartans..." Carter said, then looked to the Teens. "And Teens... Let's get moving..."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Stated the squad. They mobilized, yet again in full sprint. They ran past the cliff edge, which dropped into an abyss miles down below their current location, moving at best speed, followed by the teens. The dozens of boot pairs moved fast, muffled by the dirt below, leaving boot prints onto it. Carter was at the head of the Formation with Kat, when, ahead of them, appeared a building. Its porch extended out over the cliff. Just one wrong step could drop them in there and the worst part is, they had to cross a wooden bridge to get to the only entry point in the house. Jonah and his team slowly walked across the bridge, of fear it might break under their armor's weight... It apparently was placed well on top of whatever it was. They heard the creaks, but no drop down.

The Spartan cocked his Assault Rifle, then moved inside, weapon level ahead, with Alex not too far behind, his DMR ready to kill. The building was dark. Not even a dim light could be seen as above, the Shattered roof fell onto a stone flooring that extended out into a small courtyard, in which another house was placed.

" _Boss, I'm seeing heat sigs in the Structure_ ahead!" Jun cued, to which Carter nodded.

"Alright, Nobles. Move on out, secure the area."

The Spartans fanned out and formed a semicircle around the building, with the kids looking from the back at what was going on. Out from the structure, a door slid open, and an older man walked out. A leather jacket, a strange hat, he raised his hands. Emile's first reaction was to point a weapon at him. The eight looked on and Ruby's heart beat out of her chest.

"They're farmers, not Insurgent!" Jorge said.

"Ask them what's going on here." Carter ordered, lowering his weapon. Jorge began to speak an odd language, unrecognizable to Ruby or the ones around. The man answered, calm and relaxed, though as much as he could be when he was facing several dozen guns pointed at them. He nodded to them, then Jorge turned to Carter.

"He said they're hiding, sir..." Jorge answered, stiffened, worried. "Neighbors were attacked last night... He heard screams, _gunfire_... Stopped around Sunrise... Said something in the fields... Killed his son..."

"Some _thing?"_ Carter repeated, then sighed, the same amount of worry as Jorge. Jonah clasped his fists.

"I don't like the sound of that..." Alex whispered, looking back at the teens. A girl caught his gaze. Amber eyes, a fair skin, very beautiful and with long wavy raven hair, she was one of the most, if not THE most beautiful girls he'd ever seen. He saw her worried, then sighed. Holstering his DMR, he walked up to her, then extended his hand. She took it and examined the Spartan, each gaze meaning something different.

"Stay calm... This isn't something to worry about." He stated. The girl nodded.

"Thanks..." She answered, still a bit worried, but much less than before. Alex could see it. He nodded, then unholstered his weapon again and walked toward his team.

"Commander _, I'm seeing heat sigs in that structure directly east of your current location!"_


	2. WINTER CONTINGENCY

Ruby thought her day wouldn't have been so _hectic_...

When they first revisited Beacon after their break between semesters, she was happy with the thought that she might meet her Classmates and friends again(She'd been hanging with Yang for a while and it was honestly getting annoying with the puns). On their first official mission, she and her friends ended up discovering this odd Artifact which was in one of her left-side pouches of her belt, right beside the spare bullets and two magazines. Next thing they found out, they were piling on top of each other with these robo-people pointing weapons at them and now, they were running together toward whatever strange buildings that were hanging off the side of a cliff. At least she'd gotten an idea of how friendly these guys are when the one in red lagged behind his team to talk to her. Six, she heard his team-mates called him.

Ahead of them, a building appeared. Its insides were dark, so Ruby prepared her flashlight, followed by her friends, up until the moment she saw the soldiers walking in, their rifles loaded and moving forward. In the dark, Ruby could see the Spartans moving about, their armor lights dimly shining, like small fireflies in strange formations. Lines of sorts wavered in the dark. As she flashed her own light forward, she gasped and dropped it, covering her mouth. Three soldiers lay dead, one hung by a meathook, the others dead on the floor, bleeding. Flies were buzzing around their bodies, their empty eyes looking at her and her friends with fear.

" _Damn..."_ The leader of the other soldiers around them said, his voice thickened by the radio. "These guys look like they were interrogated..."

"Brutally, needless to say..." Noble Six added, kneeling beside one and pushing his body over. Two deep marks covered his strange kevlar armor. Six flipped him over onto his stomach and showed the marks to his team-mates.

"Yeah... Definitely looks like an Energy Sword to me." Seven, the one in full-black armor cut in(Heh). The Spartan sighed, then stood up and heaved the dead soldier off the meathook and placed him back onto the ground, slowly and carefully, very gentle, then closed his eyes, whispering what could only be a prayer.

"Well, we've seen Insurgents use Stolen and modified Covie weapons..." The one in yellow mused, then looked to Jonah. "Think whomever was selling those to the Innies also sold them functional Energy Swords?"

"I sure as _hell_ hope so..." The bigger one of the team, the one who carried a machinegun muttered behind his breath. Ruby walked up to Jonah, with Yang beside her, and the two knelt close to the dead soldiers, covering their noses as the smell of rotting and burnt flesh struck them hard. Ruby was freaked out. Yang could see how her little baby sister was twitching in fear, her eyes like saucers at the horrible sight. Yang sighed, then pulled her up and took her gaze away from the corpses, locking her eyes onto Ruby's trembling, watered ones.

"Rubes, calm down..." Yang whispered, looking her sister in the eye. "I'm praying this is a sort of odd nightmare... That in the next moment, I'll wake up and see you sleeping on the top bunk in Beacon... But it ain't... Listen, though... We're gonna make it through this..."

"Okay..." Ruby breathed in, then breathed out, slightly calming herself. "I'm sorry I got us into this mess... Shouldn't have grabbed that Artifact..."

Yang smiled, then shook her head "Not your fault, sis. You couldn't have known, or expected, this was gonna happen... Dust, we sure didn't..." She examined the Golden Spartan as he looked at her, then nodded to him, grinning. He nodded back, then scanned the surrounding area, while Yang turned back to Ruby. "But we're stuck here now... Who knows what kinds of problems these guys have... Maybe they'll drop us off somewhere safe... That or we help them fight. Know that, whichever you chose, we'll be right beside ya, me and the others."

Ruby nodded, smiling meekly. "Thanks sis... I'll keep that in mind..."

The two saw Blake, Weiss and the rest of team JNPR walk toward them, while the soldiers examined the corpses some more. Jaune looked about as stressed as Ruby, Pyrrha as unable to process this as any of them. Both them, Nora and Ren were twitchy as well. Ren held his weapons continuously, while Nora held Magnhild in a Grenade Launcher form. Jaune's shield was continuously extended, with his sword, Crocea Mors, out and ready. Pyrrha had Milo out as well, in Rifle form. The girls and boys saw weariness in both teams and in the people around them, even through the orange-tinted visors of the soldiers behind them. Blake looked to Yang and Ruby, holding the pistol form of Gambol Shroud's katana out.

"What're we gonna do? We can't run without the thought that these folks will shoot us in the back re-running in our heads, Ruby..." She asked, cocking the pistol. Ruby nodded.

"We aren't gonna run..." The redhead answered, then looked around at both teams. "We all know I made a mistake, guys. I'm sorry for bringing you all here due to my stupid little move... But we can't do anything now... Whatever killed those soldiers could still be around... I'd rather not take any chances running around without..." She swallowed, then pointed at the soldiers. "Them... They know about this place, they can keep us safe..."

"Agreed..." Jaune said, his voice cracking under the stress. He swallowed, then nodded. "We're stayin' with them, right?"

"Yeah..." Ruby said, then looked to Six walking toward them, his arms crossed. He nodded to them, then lowered his arms.

"You folks ready to move out? We still have a time to keep up with." He inquired. Ruby nodded.

"We're ready as we'll ever be..." Yang answered, crossing her arms. "We didn't get to introduce ourselves..."

"And we won't have a chance just yet, I'm afraid..." Jonah said, shaking his head, He cocked his head back toward the one in golden armor, then nodded and waved him forward. The boy walked ahead, his Assault Rifle in-hand and ready.

"Something the matter, Johnnie?" He asked, then looked toward both teams of Huntsmen-in-training. "You folks look ready to kill a whole army with that gear... Should we be scared?"

Ruby shook her head. "No..."

"Ruby, we haven't seen your weapon yet." Six said, crossing his arms. Ruby grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm kinda keeping it a surprise for when we need it..." She answered, then patted the strange red box on her back, behind her cloak. "If we need it..."

"Good... Alright, people..." Six muttered, then looked to Carter. "Sir, we moving?"

"Move out, Nobles... Keep it together." Carter answered, cocking his DMR as well. He looked to Ruby. "You're with me and Six up front, Red."

"Yessir." Ruby answered, then took position beside Carter and Jonah. The squads moved together slowly. The lights of the Spartans' helmets shone onto the ground around, revealing more blood, bullet marks and several metallic constructs around, including a fenced-off portion which contained some part of the house's power grid. Ruby could see small electrical circuits and wires hanging off the thing, explaining the power outage. As they moved through the building more, they found the shades had been drawn and that there were more burn pockmarks and bullet holes in the metal sheets that covered the window. Ahead, an opening to a courtyard. The group walked out, to hear thumps coming from the metallic roof above.

"Contact on the Motion Tracker..." Six said, scanning the roof with his Assault Rifle. "Hey, Eye in the Sky, anything?"

" _Nothing on Thermals..."_ Three, the supposed sniper the two squads saw flying above on the strange helicopter, answered through radio. Six gave him a thumbs up, then shrugged toward Carter. The Spartan nodded and the squad kept up the advance. As they stepped into another opening into the house, past some Rubble that had fallen into the courtyard, ahead of them, two windows opened up, their glass panes dirtied, but still letting light through. Six slowly walked up to it and took cover by the side of one. Peeking out, he gasped and ducked back into cover as gunfire erupted ahead of them. A lilac, crystalline slug shattered onto the wall behind them, blasting the window's glass pane into pieces outside-in. The two Huntsman/Huntress-in-training teams screamed, ducking almost immediately or falling to their stomach.

"CONTACT, CONTACT!" Carter yelled, moving beside Six and opening fire with his DMR. He looked to his team. "SPARTANS, ASSIST!"

" _Contact_?!" The heavy demanded, setting the machinegun up and opening fire. A loud rattle erupted, only covered by the roar of several strange creatures ahead of them. Hunchback, triple-jointed legs, they looked like birds. Their skin was a darkened silver. Their bird-like heads had spikes coming out of the top, resembling hair. They were carrying rifles that had strange geometry, very rounded. At the front, the muzzles looked like beaks, and around, the 'skin' bulbs covering them were purple. Ruby looked on ahead in horror as one of them aimed for her. The strange rifle spat a crystalline shard toward her, but Six stepped ahead of it. Ruby saw a ripple of static and golden energy flickering around the Spartan's armor, then vanish.

"Contact, Lieutenant-Commander?!" Seven demanded, firing his DMR. A shot scratched one's head, splitting it in half, while the Black-wearing Spartan looked at Carter. "You have to be fucking kidding me, sir! This ain't no simple Contact! It's the COVENANT! THEY'RE HERE!" And the Spartan bobbed out of cover again, firing with his DMR toward the target. Ruby felt metal touching her forearm and felt herself yanked up. Looking to the right, she noticed Noble Two, the one in blue with the robot arm, that threatened them a few dozen minutes ago looking at her through the visor.

"Stand up and start shooting, kid!" She said, then moved ahead, both hands on the pistol. She ran down a stairwell and the group heard her open fire with the pistol. Three clacks, three strange screams, like the squeals of pigs, then quiet down there. Up here it was hell. Ruby breathed in and yanked Crescent Rose off her back. The back spike of the weapon extended, alongside the trigger. She slid onto the window and scoped in, to see several more creatures headed toward them. These ones were small and had strange armors. Orange, with what seemed to be gas masks on their faces and tanks behind their backs. Ruby could only look on, until she heard the rattle of Jonah's Assault Rifle above her and felt one of the recently-ejected, heated shells fall on her back. She shuddered and it fell off after burning her for a second, then looked to Jonah, who nodded to her as he reloaded his Assault Rifle.

"Open fire _now_!" He ordered, then pulled out his long-range sniper rifle and knelt beside her. Ruby nodded, then looked through the scope of her rifle. The red numbers and scope patterns were dancing in her eyes as she zeroed in on a taller creature, also hunchback. This one had blue armor covering most of its body, three fingers on its hands, hooves on its legs and the legs were also triple-jointed, bent back and forth. She breathed in, then zeroed in on what seemed to be the creature's head. With a squeeze of the trigger, she felt the gun's large-caliber bullet eject from the barrel. The recoil kicked in her arms and shoulder, then she rearranged the sniper and looked ahead. The shot blased clean through, tearing through what seemed to be shields like the Spartans'. They flashed blue, died and the shot cut through the creature's head. Its four mandibles extended in awe, then it twisted back, falling dead onto the grass. Blue blood flowed out of its head and ahead, three of the diminutive aliens with packs looked at the dead big one, turned tail and ran.

"Woah..." Six whispered, then looked to Ruby. "Damned I be, that was a good shot, Ruby!"

"Yeah!" Carter mused, reloading his DMR. "Took that Elite Minor right out!"

"Uhh..." Ruby blushed and smiled. "Thanks..."

Out behind them, the rest of the team moved down the stairs. Ruby saw Jaune stop and signal her to move out. She nodded, stood up and cocked back the bolt of the sniper, then looked to Six. "We'll meet downstairs!" Then she moved with the rest of the squad.

Ruby felt excited... And Frightened...

For the first time in her life, aside from the Grimm fights, Adrenaline was rushing through her fast. She looked ahead, to see more of those creatures, Elites she'd heard Carter call them, moving toward them. One of them had orange armor. It noticed her and looked her in the eye. Its mandibles extended, mimicking a human smile. Upon leveling a strange weapon, two booms attached to a central handle, toward her, Ruby felt a searing heat pass by her head. She ducked and weaved and jumped into cover as bolts of sizzling energy struck the concrete she was taking cover behind. She saw Jaune and Pyrrha taking cover behind their shields. Three of those bolts impacted both, heating he metal to dull-red, then Ruby heard three detonations. She looked up, to see Six firing from his sniper, then jumping down toward them. Nora and Ren were keeping the alien creatures at bay with their weapons, while they rushed toward them. One of Nora's grenades detonated in a pink burst, setting the area where 5 of the diminutive aliens were ablaze. Ground bubbled and turned to glass due to the high heat.

Ruby saw Pyrrha open fire and hit another one of the Elites dead on. Both shots bounced off the shield, but angered the creature. It roared angrily, then pulled out a second weapon from its belt. A hilt, on which he pressed a button. The hilt lit up and two concave blades of light formed, tipping off with dark spikes that resembled bloodied tips of a sword. It charged toward Pyrrha as the girl hopelessly fired toward the creature, while Ruby was looking around for anyone who could help her. Carter and the rest of this 'Noble Team' were stuck in combat, Six was engaging with is AR and was pinned by plasma fire, and Jaune was trying to hold off another alien which charged at him with its shield up. Behind her, she heard a roar and ducked, dodging a strike from another Elite's hardlight blade. Ruby roared, and without a second thought, sliced upward as she extended Crescent Rose to scythe form. The creature stopped attacking and looked at Ruby, shocked, then split in half, a gruesome show of blood and guts spilling onto Ruby. She fell to one knee, then screamed. Her eyes were blurry, blue thanks to the creature's blood. She tried to wipe it off, but couldn't. She felt numb, falling onto all four, feeling the bloody grass on her palms then looked back as she head the thunder of a gun and the roar of another alien.

"Ruby!" She heard a voice cry. She felt the gauntleted hands of Yang wrap around her shoulders. The blonde wiped Ruby's eyes of blood and tears, then looked at her and pulled her behind cover, holding her close as more plasma impacted around them. Yang roared as the shots sent rubble and dust flying onto them, dirtying them further from the combat. The girl felt exposed, more scared than ever, even in Yang's arms. She just wanted to get out of there... _Get out_... Her mind screamed at her. _GET OUT!_ She saw Six rush toward them with a medical kit, then pull out a strange needle. Her vision was blurry, so she couldn't make out what it was. She barely felt the pinprick, then calmed down. She exhaled, then leaned forward. Hearing Six say something about her going into Shock, she felt herself fall asleep in Yang's arms..

... and wake right back up. She felt cool concrete below her palm and her eyes blasted open. She heard gunfire and jumped up and felt her back. Crescent Rose wasn't present... She looked around, then saw Six running toward the entryway to wherever they were and two, with Seven, off to the side, working on probably closing the metallic bulkhead up ahead. Five, the heavy, was firing with his HMG, covering Six, Jaune and Pyrrha as they rushed toward them. Beside them, Five, Carter and the rest of the squad were firing continuously and peaking in and out of cover, with the hopes of their friends' survival. She looked at Yang, firing with Ember Celica. The blonde turned toward her and nodded, then ran to her side and picked her up.

"Ugh..." Ruby spat, struggling to stand up, worried of whatever was oncoming. "What the heck happened to me?!"

"You blacked out." Yang lied, then slid her down onto the wall next to Seven and Two, handing her a pistol. The metal glowed silver in the dim light and Ruby felt the plastic grip warm up to her touch. She cocked the bolt back, then looked to Yang as she moved to help engage. The soldier in golden armor was beside her, firing what seemed to be a Grenade Launcher like Nora's. Speaking of Nora, she was firing with a pistol out the door herself, while Jaune and Pyrrha kept behind shields during the run here

"How long was I out?" She asked, then stood up, wiping dust off her shoulders. She noticed the purpleish-blue coagulated blood of the Elite on her and Yang's hands. Clenching her fist, she looked at her sister.

"Good two hours, while they got us here..." Yang answered, sighing. "Rubes, I'm so sorry... I should've been more careful..."

"It's okay..." Ruby said, remembering with horror when she saw the Elite split in half thanks to her own attack. She sighed, loosing the fist, then examined the pistol and looked back at Yang. "Where's Crescent Rose?"

"We got her, but we can't hand it over just now. You see what's going on outside..." Yang said, cocking her shotgun gauntlets. She grinned. "We're givin them aliens a good Yangin'."

The redheaded girl snickered, then nodded. It was good to see Yang's positive attitude keeping both of them in Check. Ruby moved toward the door with Yang, joining Seven and Two as she took cover right behind the door. She looked down the ironsights of the pistol and squeezed the trigger twice. Two of the diminutive aliens that moved in Six', Jaune and Pyr's path back to them fell dead, massive holes in their skulls. She waved to Six, who nodded to her, then pulled out his Sniper Rifle and fired twice. Two aliens fell dead from a sniper's perch on one of the catwalks, more of those bird-like freaks.

"We got it!" Kat yelled, looking back at them. "Door's closing!"

" _And we're in."_ Six said, probably grinning behind his faceplate. He dived through the door, followed by Pyrrha and Jaune, their shields shining crimson from the continuous plasma impacts. Six looked back at the door, hoisting his Assault Rifle up. He opened fire toward an Elite that rushed to them, pelting its shields with bullets. After spending a clip and a half on it, it fell dead right in front of the door, right at the edge, riddled with bullet holes, blood spilling from every newly-drilled hole. Six kicked it back as the door closed, then hissed sealed. The Spartan's tensed muscles relaxed, his weapon and armor clattering onto the floor.

"Sweet Mother... That was a pain in the arse..." The boy said, taking his helmet off. Shock read across Ruby's face as her heart began pounding out of her chest, so loud she could swear the aliens outside started pounding the door... Jonah was handsome. Auburn hair and eyes like she saw past the visor, but his face was a whole new deal for the redhead. The boy was incredibly good-looking and the scars he had just added to it. His pale skin was no different than hers, but the 'cool factor' he emanated, as Ruby called it, was off the charts. Yang noticed her sister had started to drool and waved her hand in front of her face.

"Uhh... Remnant, or wherever the heck we are, to Ruby?" Yang demanded, worried, then looked at Nora, to see her giggling. "What?" The blonde asked. Nora pointed at Jonah, then Yang stopped, realizing what this was about. She grinned. Just her luck, now Ruby decided to get a crush, in the middle of a damn war zone. Yang snorted, then covered her mouth as she walked back to Blake and Weiss, who were looking on, Weiss with her arms crossed.

"Heh." Blake smirked, closing her eyes and placing a palm on her forehead. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen..."

"Hey, shut up." Yang ordered in a happier tone than her usual, grinning as she looked at Ruby. "After what she just went through, she deserves to at least see a pretty face around... Aside from ours, that is."

Weiss scoffed, then lowered her arms, looking at the others. "We aren't here to get boyfriends, Yang... We need to learn how to get the Dust out of here and back to Remnant."

"Ruby still has that artifact, doesn't she?" Blake asked, receiving nods from both the girls. She bit her lip, then thought. "Well, can't we get out of here with it?"

"No... I think its power source died, transferring us here." Weiss denoted in a calm, thinking tone, placing her hand under her chin in a thinking manner. "It was hovering out of Ruby's pocket if I remember it correctly... At least after she found it."

"Guys!" Ruby yelled, snapping them out of their thought lines. The girls looked toward her, to see the rest of Noble Squad moving through an open door in the back of the room. The place was as poorly-lit as that house they were in. Yang grabbed Crescent Rose, then handed it to Ruby as they walked through the door themselves. Ruby flicked her flashlight on, followed by her team and JNPR, of which Pyrrha stepped ahead next to her this time, Miló and Akoúo̱ drawn and prepared for combat, Miló in Xiphos sword form.

"Hello." She whispered, holding her weapons ready, her fingers twitching on the rifle..

"Hi, Pyr." Ruby answered. "How're ya holding up?"

"Good... Considering..." She answered in a very distressed tone. Ruby noticed the congealed purple, blue and red blood marks that were present on her armor and Miló's blade. She had a mark on Akoúo̱, a dual cut, that wasn't deep, more like a mere scorch mark.

"Got in a close fight with that Elite?" Ruby asked, extending Crescent Rose, finally, into its full Scythe/rifle form. Pyrrha nodded, looking at Ruby, a slight ounce of fear in her otherwise peaceful emerald eyes.

"Yes... It was incredibly close... If it hadn't been for Noble Three taking that saving shot, right now I'd probably be Pyrrha/2." She smiled weakly, to which Ruby snickered, then placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I doubt Jaune would've let that happen... Or you, for that matter." Ruby answered quietly, then looked ahead, worried as they finally saw a light down the corridor. It extended and revealed a blood trail that lead into the corner. Carter signaled Six, Seven, Eight and Nine to move in, while the others stayed behind. The Hunters and Huntresses stopped in the middle of the hallway and peeked inside, into the light. A dead body lay in the middle, an older man wearing a parka... His skin was tanned, his hair was greyed out and he had a com pad on his hand. Six knelt beside him, his Assault Rifle out, then pushed the man up slowly. A small chip fell from one of the man's chest pockets. Six let the side of the body down easily, then picked the chip up as he looked at Two, who was working on repairing the Com Relay.

"Found something." Six said. Kat turned toward him and nodded. "I'll take that six." She snatched it out of his hand. "Not your domain."

The Huntresses and Huntsmen walked in. Seven had his helmet off while working with Two onto the repairs, then heard Jorge call out, while Carter spoke to a Marine they'd found on the ground.

"Got a live one over here!"

"What the..." Weiss asked as Jorge heaved a teenage girl out from behind a small staircase. She was hidden under the platform. The girl wore a leather jacket, had long, nutmeg hair and blue eyes, alongside old Jeans and Sneakers. She struggled, punching at Jorge's chest while he yanked her out, trying to calm her down. She was probably swearing in some form of gibberish language the others didn't understand. He placed her on the floor and took his helmet off his head.

"Calm down! We're not gonna hurt you!" Jorge stated, stiffly as he picked the girl up. "Keep still and I'll release you."

She said something that sounded like a threat, then, ahead of them, dropped Three Elites. These ones were clad in crimson-red armor with blue accents. One of them carried an energy sword and slashed at Jorge. He ducked, covering the girl as sparks bounced off his armor. Six ducked and grabbed his rifle, while the others set up defensively as good as they could. Seven heard Emile, outside, call through radio.

" _What's your status_?!" He demanded. When they heard Carter's response, Shivers ran up their spines.

"We've been _Engaged_!"

Ruby watched in horror as the Elite with the Energy Blade charged toward Kat and Two, slicing toward them. More sparks bounced off the walls and electronics of the Visegrad Com Relay, but Two and Seven thankfully ducked in time. Six opened fire with his Assault Rifle, pelting the Elite's shields. They flashed bright blue and died, sending Ruby reeling back due to the Flash. The Elite pinned Six onto the floor and ran as assault rifle fire rained down on it, spurting its blue blood onto the floor as its shields struggled to regenerate. "BAD GUY COMING OUT!" Carter cried as Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha saw another one try to stab Six with what seemed to be an Energy Dagger from its gauntlet. Six defended the strike, then punched it in the jaw. Its split mandibles opened as it roared at Six in sheer anger, then tried another stab. With a crunch, it was kicked off by Carter and Kat opened fire with her pistol, reinforced by Seven's DMR, knocking out its shields. Carter gave Six his Assault Rifle, while the Elite crawled away, stood up and ran, grabbing the human Corporal that was on the ground. He screamed for help, while the girl in the background screamed too.

" _Sir, that Tango blew past me! Permission to Pursue?!"_ Emile demanded over Radio.

"Negative, Four, stay on the entrance!" Carter cried as two of the three elites backed out the door with their prisoner. He looked back at the Spartans. "Two, handle her!" He pointed at the girl. "Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine! Clear the hole!"

"Aye, sir!" The Spartans chorused, then headed toward the door, their weapons at the ready. Ruby ran to Carter and spoke.

"What can we do?!" She demanded. Carter pointed at the girl.

"Help Two deal with the Civilian! We don't want people losing it here!" He looked to Pyrrha and Jaune and ordered, strong and very damn sure of himself. "Help Five and Six with their buddies, now!"

"Understood." Pyrrha said, readying her rifle. Jaune nodded, then the two rushed toward the door. The two stepped through and looked at Jorge, who nodded, then slid the metallic door closed and grabbed his Machinegun. Jaune looked at team JAMR already preparing to move. They opened fire toward a squad of Grunts and two Jackals headed toward them and Pyrrha heard a thunder. A Fragmentation Grenade went off and she could see the aliens dying, body parts and shrapnel flung on and off their little bodies. The Jackals' shields flared red, then died and the two heard Jonah's sniper sound off. They saw one of the aliens' heads split clean open, then fall dead. She yanked Akoúo̱ out and put it between three lilac crystalline projectiles. She felt one shatter, two, and the third struck and bounced back into a wall, shattering there. She unslung Miló and turned it into rifle mode, firing from it and nailing the second alien, three perfect shots through the chest. Purple pools of blood ran down the staircases the group of Seven now ran up onto. Speaking of, Michael, Noble Eight, yanked out his Katana upon sighting the Elite with an energy sword in the Server Room. Jonah nodded to him, then signaled the others to stay back.

"You!" Michael said, pointing at Jaune. "On me. Your shield is resistant to energy sword strikes, so I will need you to defend me in case anything comes up!"

"Understood!" Jaune said, then looked to Pyrrha. She nodded, worry and dread, two feelings Jaune could see in her eyes.

"Be careful..." She whispered. He grinned, then nodded.

The swordsman pair moved down onto the Server Platform, where several computers rose off the ground, hissing and ejecting steam, then fell back onto the ground. Eight set up in a combat stance, followed by Jaune, who set up his shield and sword forward too. The two stared down with the Elite, its split mandibles formed into yet another mimicked human smile. Jaune grinned behind his shield, then taunted the elite, readying Crocea Mors for the worst. The creature moved toward Jaune at high speed and, upon closing distance, swung with its energy blade. Jaune parried with the shield, the blade stopping dead into whatever Alloy Jaune's shield was made of. The elite backed off as Jaune staggered and swung with the sword, causing a distraction.

The Elite kicked him in the chest, sending him reeling back after the strike. His armor didn't crack, but he felt his Aura weaken. He parried another strike from the Elite's blade, then swung the shield forth, disarming the creature. Its energy blade clattered onto the ground and Jaune saw Michael close distance. The two nodded to each other, then swung at the same time. The Elite's shields flared bright blue, died, then the swords tore through Alien Alloys and flesh, passing the armor and the techsuit underneath. The alien fell, its shoulder split in half by the dual strike of the blades. Michael yanked his pistol out as one of the diminutive aliens fired at them with a plasma pistol. It fell dead, shot by Miló. Pyrrha was still protecting Jaune, even from afar. Michael's pistol cracked three times and Jaune saw another Elite, same armor configuration as the last one, fall dead, a bullet hole through its thick throat, right in the mandible. The Spartan yanked his sword out of the Elite they'd killed and reloaded his pistol. Its mag clicked in safely, then he slung it back onto his hip.

As the squad met up back at the Relay, Kat was examining the tech inside with a fiber-optic probe. She groaned as she removed the damaged side panel and tossed it aside, grabbing the probe from within it. She sighed.

"So? How long?" Carter asked.

"Question of my life..." Kat muttered to herself, placing the drone in her pocket. "If the question is 'when will the station be back online?' Two weeks... This is plasma damage. The whole damn thing is fused together."

"We don't have two weeks." Carter said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, yeah..." Kat answered, waving him off. "I can splice through the main circuitry, give you a direct link to Colonel Holland."

"Do it." Caret said. Kat snorted.

"Already on it."

Ruby looked at Jorge comforting the girl they'd found, speaking to her. Hearing a man that size, who could squash her in an instant, speak calmly to a girl like that, who was really ready to kill him moments ago if she had the strength. It moved Ruby a bit, needless to say... After what she saw she had to do to survive here... She was happy to see a calm soul in all of this.

"I'm Jorge... You are?" She spoke to the girl. She sighed.

"Sara..." She answered, crying as she looked at the body on the side. The old scientist. Jorge looked at her, calmly.

"Friend of yours?" Ruby asked, looking at Sara. She shook her head, then leaned it back between her knees.

"Father..."

"Oh..." Ruby mused, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sara..."

Emile looked to Six and his team, shrugging with his shotgun in hand as he spoke "Big man forgets what he is some times..."

Jorge stepped up to him and said in a bitter tone, almost like a threat. "She just lost her father..." He looked to Carter, this time, his voice sounded as military as before. "She needs a full psychiatric workup."

"She's not the only one..." Emile muttered, as Jorge turned toward him.

"Lock it down, both of you!" Carter demanded, looking at them through his visor, his glare piercing them. "Get her on her feet. The body stays here."

Ruby smiled as she saw Jorge's face light up, even just a little. He nodded. "Thank you, sir..."

Six walked up to Ruby and took his helmet off. He grinned.

"Yeesh... You're full of elite blood...' He stated, placing a hand on her shoulder, then removing it to feel the sticky goop on his gauntlet. He nodded to her, then wiped it off the concrete ground. "You lot have some of the sickest weapons I've seen to date... I'm sorry you ended up here... You went into shock back there..." He continued, helping her up. "Trust me... It was gonna be bad."

"It's why you pricked me with that needle, right?" Ruby inquired, looking strangely calmer than before. Six nodded, slinging his helmet under his shoulder. They heard Kat speak.

"Eureka..." She whispered, grinning. "Got a signal, but it's patchy..." She stepped away from the console, then looked to Carter. "She's all yours, Commander..."

The others stepped out, as the voice of Colonel Holland filled the Room, patchy.

"... _N_ _OBLE one, this is Colonel Holland, are you there?"_ He demanded. Carter spoke.

"Yes, sir! This is not Insurgents we're facing here, sir!" He spoke, worried. "The Covenant are on REACH!"

 _"What? Say again, Noble One!?"_ Holland demanded. " _Did you say_ Covenant?!"

"Yes sir..." Carter said, almost whispering it... Unwanting to believe it. "It's the WINTER CONTINGENCY..."

After along pause, Holland's shaken voice came over the com.

" _God Help us All..."_

 **AN:Oh my fuckin' God! I don't think I've ever written a chapter to contain 6000+ Words! Holy fucking Christ, this was a blast to write! Helluva long one, but a blast nonetheless! Alright, people, Leave reviews telling me what you think and don't forget to follow and favorite if you liked this story! I have some plans for where this might go, but I'm keeping them a secret until we get to that point!**

 **ForsakenSpartan, Over and _out_!**


	3. Recruited

**_AN:Okay, this is a more talk-oriented chapter. It's the squads getting to know each-other and mostly, how teams RWBY and JNPR will end up fighting alongside NOBLE._**

 _ **Reach. Ten hours post-Mission. Within UNSC Military Base outside Visegrad.**_

 _ **24th of July 2552, UNSC Standard Military Calendar.**_

Carter and Jonah strode down the main pathway of Firebase _Citadel_ , a base on the edge of the cliffside near Visegrad overlooking one of the place's main airfields. The Spartans looked up at the sight of Pelicans pockmarking the sky around the airfield, prepared to deploy troops at a moment's notice. The hundred Pelicans swarmed about, taking off from and landing on the Airfield, ferrying supplies and troops to other bases. One of the birds turned toward them and boosted its way toward them. The vehicle moved toward one of the Landing Pads of _Citadel_ and then touched down with a quiet metallic clang. Out from aboard it, two UNSC Troopers carrying the basic MA37K Assault Rifle walked beside a man in a UNSC Military Uniform. His name was etched in black lettering on the right side of his chest, while on the left resided several medals, including a Purple Heart. Colonel _Urban_ _Holland._

The two Spartans snapped-to upon the sight of their handler and saluted promptly, helmets slung under their arms. He walked up to them and saluted as well, then nodded to the two. They settled down.

"Good to see you around, sir." Carter said. Holland nodded.

"Same to you, Spartans." He stated, crossing his arms. "What's this I hear about 'recovered stray Teens' from your Reports, Noble One?"

"About that..." Carter said, rubbing the back of his head. "Walk with us, sir. We'll explain it."

"We, sir?" Jonah asked, looking at him. Carter nodded, then Jonah sighed and looked at Holland. "Right... We will, sir."

"Very well... Go on ahead, Spartans... And take me to them in the meantime." Holland said. The two Spartans glanced at each-other, then nodded to Holland. The group started moving down the path again. Down it, they could see the training UNSC Army boys and girls on the ground, marching left and right, singing a cadence. 'Momma told Johnny not to go down town'. Holland smiled, hearing that old cadence again bringing back memories from his early days in the Corps.

Within the Barracks of Noble Team, RWBY and JNPR relaxed, examining their weapons and the new gear they'd received from the UNSC soldiers around, including armors, while Kat joined the crew to check on them. She sat down ahead of them, clad in her full armor, then took one of Ruby's shells that had somehow rolled all the way to her and examined it. Silver brass with a black cover, high-caliber bullet. Considering what she had seen, the shots it could give could tear through them and their armor easily, after simply bursting through an Elite's skull and armor plating. She grinned, then looked at Ruby and tossed the girl her shell back. She caught it without even looking and kept working on her clips.

"You eight seem oddly calm for your situation." She stated, crossing her arms to her chest. Ruby nodded.

"We were kinda taught not to worry as long as all of us are still alive..." Jaune said, examining Crocea Mors and his new gear. He had received a complementary UNSC MA5B Assault Rifle form the Corps, with the writing 'Kanji' painted onto its side. When he asked the local marines about it, some of them laughed, others gave him a thumbs up. Those who answered it said it meant either 'badass' or 'asshole'. Jaune tended to think it was the second one, but even so, he shouldered it and trained on ejecting the clip and reloading it. The boy was getting the hang of it slowly after training for two hours.

"That's a good creed..." Kat said, nodding to Ruby, then leaning and grabbing her pistol off from the ground. She cocked it back, then took it apart, cleaned every little bit of it and slung it back onto her hip. "Who taught it to you?"

"Our teachers." Pyrrha answered in an awfully calm tone, examining Miló. Kat sighed, seeing how there was probably no friendly chatter with these kids... At least until Ruby looked at her and smiled.

"Ah, sorry about us being so grumpy." She said, then looked at Nora and sighed, seeing her still pouncing on Ren, trying to annoy him... Or so it would seem. Ruby looked back to Kat. "Uhh... Well, most of us..."

"Ah... it's fine..." Kat said, smiling, looking about. "I'd be the same in your situation... Dropped onto a world you don't know anything about, having to fight a war you don't even have what to do in and... Killing aliens... Now that doesn't seem weird at all to me..."

"It wouldn't." Emile said from the background, sharpening his knife on his shoulder like he did way before when the squad first met Six, Seven and Eight. "We're Threes... Been trained since day one to kill ETs."

"That's true, I guess." Kat answered, shrugging at Emile, looking indifferent. The Spartan Grim Reaper nodded, then turned back to his knife sharpening, and without taking his eyes off the blade sharpening, talked to Ruby. "You know, Red, I saw your weapon fully extended... Like I'm sure most of us did... Was that a Sniper-Scythe?" He looked to Ruby. The girl nodded.

"Yep. Built it myself." She answered. Emile nodded to her and motioned toward her with the knife.

"Now _that_ is weaponsmithing skill right there." The Close Quarters specialist smirked, nodding to Ruby. "You earned my respect, Red."

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Emile..."

"Heh. You said big guy's sentimental, Emile? What does this make you?" Kat smirked, looking at Emile He waved her off and continued his job. The group continued working on their newly-acquired equipment. Nora actually fiddled with a Sparrowhawk Soil-to-Air Missile launcher... Now that was a scary thought. The madwoman who wielded a grenade launcher/Hammer of Thor was wielding a Rocket Launcher, the most powerful propellant-driven projectile weapon out there aside from the nukes. Worst part for Kat, the girl was grinning while holding the launcher up.

Kat rushed to her and chirped "No, no, no... How about a Machinegun?" dread filling the girl's voice.

"Awwh~... You're no fun, Kat." Nora said, then grinned and looked to Ren. "Ooooh~ Reeeen~." She levelled the Rocket launcher for the boy. He looked to her, carrying two M7/Caseless SMGs, then sighed.

"Nora, you're going to not only hurt yourself, but someone else with that thing." He stated, walking up to her and putting a hand on the launcher. He pushed it aside and looked her in the eye. "How about what Lieutenant-Commander Catherine suggested. A machinegun or Assault Rifle? Or maybe even a normal Grenade Launcher?"

"Aww man..." Nora said, sighing. "Okay..." She smirked and poked his nose. "Boop". That little outburst only made Ren smile at her and nod. Kat sighed in relief, then sat back down.

"You're calm as all hell, Ren... Explains how you can just easily deal with her..." She stated, then leaned back.

Blake sighed, then looked off outside. She saw Alex moving about, Helmet off his head. The boy had silver hair and bright red eyes, with little-to-no scars on his face. He moved toward the barracks and waved to Blake. The girl was stunned as he winked at her, then stepped up the staircase. He strolled behind Kat and sat down next to Blake. She was stunned, but nodded to him anyway, blushing. She hit behind her hair and looked at Yang, who was laughing(Be it whispered) her ass off. She fell on her back, laughing like hell about Blake's current 'outburst', rolling on the floor. Blake sighed and looked down at her weapons system, Gambol Shroud, still blushing. She grinned upon seeing Yang's reaction to Robert, Noble nine, as he walked inside. The boy's hair was dyed blonde, his eyes were bright blue and he was one handsome soldier.

"Hey." He said rather happily. She nodded to him.

"Hello." She answered in the same manner.

"I hear you guys voted on joining us here on the ground... Why's that?" He asked Blake as he examined his DMR. Blake shrugged, then looked to him.

"Don't you know? Huntsmen and Huntresses, be we in training or not, seek out danger." She answered. Alex laughed, then looked to her.

"You're a funny one, Golden Eyes." He said, keeping his smile. He pointed at Nora holding her weapon by her hip as she looked outside, shocked. "What's with Pinkie?"

"Uh... Nora?" Blake inquired, looking at her. "What's wro-" She stopped, then stood up. Alex followed suit upon seeing who was coming in. Carter, alongside Jonah and Colonel Holland stepped inside. To the two teams of Huntresses and Huntsmen, the old soldier looked awfully militaristic in nature. They all saluted, the Spartans without thinking twice, while the two teams that joined them saluted mere nanoseconds after, joining in with the crowd. Holland saluted back, then scanned the room, his piercing cherry eyes locking onto Jaune and Ruby.

"Hello, teams RWBY and JNPR." He said, easing his posture. The two teams, who were tense up to now, calmed down as well.

"Hello, _sir_!" The teens chorused. Holland nodded, then looked to Carter.

"You didn't mention these kids being properly military, Lieutenant-Commander." He smirked, to which Carter nodded.

"We didn't know up to now, sir." Jonah added, grinning at Holland. The man nodded, then turned back toward the group.

"I think you all know where you are by now..." He stated, receiving nods from each of the teens. He nodded. "Good. Then you know our history and what threat we're currently facing..."

Jaune raised his hand and Holland gave him the word.

"Sir, with all due respect... One thing we don't get is how long has this war been?" The boy asked, crossing his arms. "And... What can _we_ do to help?"

Holland sighed, then nodded. "My boy, you put out a pair of good questions there. This war has been ongoing for 28 years... And, then again, I wouldn't call it a war..."

"It's slaughter." Yang cut in. Holland nodded, looking rather distraught, stuck in memories.

"Trillions dead. Hundreds of our worlds burned to the ground." Holland said, then sighed. "I was young when the war originally started in '25... But I won't bore you with my military life story." He crossed his arms. "And to answer your second question... The leaders of both teams, please, take a step forward."

Jaune reluctantly stepped forward, his MA5B Slung on his back and his sword on his hip, while Ruby followed him, emanating conviction and strong will.

"Jaune Ark." Holland motioned to Jaune. "And Ruby Rose." He looked to Ruby. She nodded, her silver eyes gleaming with excitement. Holland smiled at both, then was handed a manifest by Carter. "By order of the United Nations Space Command's HighCom here on Reach, and of my own accord, I am asking you, teams RWBY and JNPR, huntsmen and Huntresses of the lost world you call Remnant, to join us upon this crusade to fend off the Covenant, to stop them at Reach."

Everyone in the room, aside from Holland, Jonah and Carter gasped. The two teams began talking among each other and with the Spartans in the room, while Holland waited for their answer. Ruby and Jaune turned toward their team-mates, who gave the ever-slightest of nods to both of them, an answer neither expected. Jaune shuddered, but nodded to Ruby as well. She nodded back and the two looked to Holland, who was shocked by their next move.

"Sir..." Ruby chirped, saluting. Jaune followed suit, both of them smiling.

"Count us in." Jaune said, full of resolve, trust in his words.

"We swore we'd defend humanity wherever we may be sent..." Ruby said, lowering her hand next to her hip. "That applies to outer space too..." She continued, now more excited than before. "So, yeah. We're in."

Holland smiled widely, followed by Jonah's smile and Carter nodding. He looked to both team leaders, then nodded.

"Report to medical. Orders from HighCom are as follows:Prepare and Arm teams RWBY and JNPR, induct them into NOBLE Team Roster, and, based on Preliminary Medical examinations which revealed very interesting results, arm and armor up both teams with the specialized set of MJOLNIR Armor Suits."

"What?!" Kat demanded, standing up. "Sir, that's crazy!"

"These kids will get torn up in that armor without proper modifications!" Emile jumped in as well, standing up.

"Calm down, Spartans." Carter said, crossing his arms. "Those 'interesting discoveries' after the Preliminaries reveal incredible modifications to the Hunters' and Huntresses' bodies... Highly similar to ours."

"That's..." Alex said, walking out from the crowd. "That's like a trillion to one shot, sir... How the hell?"

"Well, considering the stories we've heard from our guests..." Kat mused, then grinned as she remembered "These adaptations must be present because of the hostile environment these guys lived in... Add to that their 'Aura' and 'Semblances'... Heh, They're Spartans from another Planet..."

"Correct." Holland said, then nodded. "Teams RWBY, JNPR, you'll be at Medical in Five. You'll need specialized Neural implants to run the suits..."

"Wait... Neural implants?" Ruby inquired, unconsciously feeling the back of her neck. "Will they hurt?"

"No. It's a small device that links to your brain via the spine so you can run the armor..." Jonah said, then pointed at Yang, grinning "With Blondie, it may be a problem... It involves cutting hair..."

"What?" Yang demanded, cocking her shotgun gauntlets.

"Then again... We can surpass that... Don't worry..." Holland said, a bit scared of Yang's reaction. "Now, be present at the Medbay in five minutes... Spartans, Dismissed." He saluted, receiving a salute from everyone around. He turned heel and walked away. The Remnant folk turned toward the Spartans, of which Kat seemed most worried, while Ruby walked toward Jonah.

"How bad are the implants?" Ruby asked. Jonah shook his head.

"They ain't bad..." He showed her his, a small metallic device with a port on which it linked. Ruby put a hand on it and felt the cold metal. Jonah jolted and Ruby retracted her hand with a quiet squee.

"Did it hurt?" She asked, worried. Jonah turned toward her, grinning, and shook his head.

"Nope..."

"Oh, you... "She smacked him on the armor, then grabbed her hand. "Owww~..."

"Heh... Sorry for the scare." He nodded to her. "Well... 'Spartans'... Best present yourselves to the Medbay right now. Holland will want you to be ready. I'm sure our next mission's pretty soon and the sun is setting."

"Oh... Okay..." Ruby nodded, then looked to the others and waved them out. She looked at Jonah one last time. "See ya 'round, Jonah."

"Same to you, Ruby." He smirked, then waved to her as she left. The squad piled out and walked toward the building with a red cross on its outside wall, lead by two soldiers, on the way, being passed by UNSC Army troopers, their weapons slung behind their shoulders. Ruby looked to see Holland's pelican taking off and leaving for another base all together. She sighed, then looked ahead at her sis, who gave her a thumbs up, smiling. Ruby nodded and smiled back, though a bit worried.

"Don't worry sis." Yang stated. "We're getting some sick new armors. I think that calls for a celebration after we're done."

"Uhh, what kind?" Weiss asked from beside Ruby, her arms crossed.

"Depends on what the whole squad wants." Yang said. Using the term 'squad' meant Yang already considered herself part of the UNSC, part of this bigger unit about to happen. It didn't shock Ruby, as much as motivated her. She nodded to Yang, then looked to Blake. She was shivering a bit.

"Hey, you okay?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded, then breathed in and out.

"What do you think'll happen?" Blake said, dread filling her voice as she scanned her surroundings.

"Uhh... Well, considering, I think nothing bad..." Ruby mused. "I hope at least... I mean, you had to show the docs you were a Faunus and they reacted... Overall, they reacted pretty calm..."

"Yeah..." Blake said, rubbing her arm. "I guess so... I hope nothing odd happens."

The squad stepped inside the building. On every corner, there were operating tables with Sterile field Generators, strange machines that glowed an eerie blue and emitted unknown rads on top of all that. Opaque plastic curtains wavered as the doctors walked in and out with their nurses beside them, tablets in hand, scanning every piece of technology around and re-scanning it to make sure it was all okay. One of the doctors stepped up to Ruby and showed her to follow him to one of the ORs. She nodded, then looked to Yang, dread filling her soul by the minute... She was less tense upon seeing Yang walk into one of those rooms with a wide smile on her face. The girl looked ahead, to see the Operating Table, a clean white, comfortable bed-like item, above which bright lights resided... The room was clean and the tools on the table seemed like the usual you'd find in a hospital. None of them were dirty, bloodied or anything, hell even the needles were still in their packing. The doctor showed Ruby to lay back onto the table. She followed his indications, laying back onto the soft bed and placing her hands on two white booms that held both her arms out and extended. She looked at her veins, clearly visible on her white skin, now, most of all times.

They were pumping blood continuously. She could feel her heart rate rise as one of the doctors prepared a needle with a clear liquid within it. The doctor nodded to her, telling her something about anesthetics, what'll put her to sleep while they put whatever that device was on the back of her neck... She felt a cold tingle as the doctor put the needle through her skin, into one of the bigger veins. The cold liquid spread through her hand, a cool sensation, then Ruby already felt herself falling asleep. Her vision got blurry, her silver eyes struggled to stay open, then she looked on around... The doctors became just blurry shapes in her vision. She leaned back onto the table, then looked up at the lights... They shone brightly in her eyes, an incredible show of white... Her eyes closed...

...

A field of flowers and grass extended out around Ruby... She balled her fingers into fists, clutching the grass under her arms. She relaxed both hands... The cool wind of summer blew through her hair and above her, the bright golden orb of the sun shone down on her eyes. The girl pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes... Looking down, she saw she was wearing a bright-white nightgown... She stood up, her feet were bare and she felt the grass tingle between her toes. She opened her eyes wide. A cobalt dome overlooked her, the sky was clear today. She looked about, scanning the horizon. Hills of red and white roses with green all around...

She looked atop one of the hills, noticing a cloaked figure in pure white... She was tall and the inside of the cloak was bright red. Ruby slowly stepped toward it, unsure of what was going on... The figure looked at her, two silver-colored irises... A beautiful face... Like that of a mother... The woman smiled at Ruby and extended her hand toward the girl.

"Mom..." Ruby said, tears forming around her eyes. "MOM!" She ran for her. The woman caught Ruby in her embrace and Ruby could feel warm tears trickling down into her hair. She felt a kiss on her forehead.

"My baby Ruby..." Summer said, then knelt ahead of Ruby. "You sure have grown..."

"Where've you been... Mom, where've you been?" Ruby asked, looking at her mother. She smiled and wiped the tears off Ruby's cheeks.

"My dear... I'm _so_ sorry..." She said. "I'm so sorry I left you and Yang... It's just... It wasn't my choice..."

"It's okay..." Ruby answered, be it whispered. "it's okay, mom... We forgave it... But I still miss you..."

"I know, Sweetie..." She smiled at Ruby. "But I know where you are... I can help you with it all now... Just ask if you need it... The next time you fall asleep, I'll be right here for any questions you have... But you have to go now, dear... The doctors are waking you up..."

"Wait, no, mom!" Ruby said as her mother vanished in a swirl of Rose petals. The girl closed her eyes. Barely, they opened as the girl looked about. She felt comfortable... She was in a bed now... As she opened her eyes, she noticed she was in one of the bunk beds in the barracks. Ahead of her, Yang showed off her new implant... Ruby smiled, then sat up straight. Upon feeling the back of her neck, she found the same implant Yang had was in her neck as well. She looked to her pillow... No blood...

"Huh... Guess Aura really did help here..." She muttered to herself. Upon lifting her hand from under the sheet, she noticed she was wearing a black, tight suit, upon which interlinked crisscrossing lines and the likes, forming a hexagonal pattern all across the suit. On her shoulders, chest and legs resided magnetic clamps, presumably to lock the armor pieces in place. As Jonah finished a sentence, he looked to Ruby and grinned.

"Ah, looks like Spartan Rose is up." He smirked, then helped her onto her feet. "How's it feel?"

"Uhh... It's strange to have some form of little metal bug stuck to my neck..." She smiled and nodded. "But I think I can get used to it."

"Good." Carter said, stepping up to Ruby and the others. "I think it's high-time we got you into your MJOLNIR sets, Spartans."

A weird realization came over Ruby... Both Jonah and now, Carter, called Ruby and her friends 'Spartans'... She looked ahead, to see the others clothed in the same types of suits as her. The Techsuits. Yang grinned, nodding to Ruby. Her chest was sticking out much more now than before, thanks to the suit's tighter, but also lighter material. Ruby felt like a cat as she made each move forward and back. She looked to Jonah, who gave her a thumbs up.

"We got a mission, so it's gonna be a quick 'grab-and-go' for the Armory and your sets." Carter said. "Follow us, Ten."

"Ten?" Ruby inquired, the realization finally striking her... The Nobles saw her and her friends as Spartans now...

"Yeah. Your new callsign, Noble Ten. Get used to it." Jonah smirked. "Let's get moving, SPARTANS!"

The squad moved out of their barracks, to see several Falcon Gunships prepared for takeoff. Aboard them, the rest of NOBLE, which included team JNPR, now in their new armor sets, prepared their gear. Jaune waved to Ruby, grinning. As she returned the favor, she blushed upon looking to Jonah again. He turned to her and smiled, then shook his head and they continued moving. Aboard the leading Falcon, Kat, Jorge and Emile prepared themselves, loading their weapons, with Robert and Alex aboard. Yang waved to Robert and he waved back, loading his grenade launcher.

"Something the matter?" He asked, looking at her. She nodded, still a bit in shock at the treatment.

"What's with calling all of us Spartans all of the sudden?" She asked, then hugged her shoulders as a chill shot up her spine.

"Heh. My request for Carter. You're part of NOBLE, you have Spartan-like augmentations, so..." He handed her a Spartan badge. "You're officially part of the gang, Ten. Enjoy your stay. You're now a Sergeant, along the rest of your squad."

"I'm asking why, Jonah..." Ruby answered, looking at him. He nodded.

"Listen, some of NOBLE wouldn't have agreed to this if they didn't hear about your training..." He smirked as they closed in on the armory. "Considering, your training's very, very similar to that of ours. Upon consideration and... The three hours you've been out after the op in which I got to convince Carter about this, you're officially part of our little party." He nodded. "Welcome aboard, Spartan Ruby Rose, a Spartan III with a family name."

"Thanks, Jonah..." She said, smiling at him. Thank God it was night, because she was blushing. "You guys are great."

"We're friends here, Ruby." Jonah said. "You'll know who's 'great' and who isn't when we're in combat and you have one of us covering your ass, though I doubt any of us would let you die."

The group stopped ahead of the armory and Carter stepped ahead, crossing his arms. He took his helmet off and smiled at the newly-acquired members of NOBLE, team RWBY. Noble Ten, Ruby, Noble Eleven, Weiss, Noble Twelve, Blake, and Noble Thirteen, Yang. He nodded to each of them and spoke.

"You four and your friends have joined a brotherhood now, a squad that knows friendship and camaraderie." He said, proudly. "A squad with no bounds to defending each other in the face of hell and a squad I'm glad to have under my command. The three four-man teams that joined us within the last few hours, you've proven yourselves, even as rookies, as worth of the title of Nobles... Welcome aboard, teams. Welcome aboard. Now, for your final act of joining the Spartan Corps, please." He stepped out of the way, letting team RWBY enter the MJOLNIR Armory. "Pick your armors, ladies."

A minute later, the girls of RWBY, with their newly-acquired sets of MJOLNIR armor, stretched and moved through, trying to assess this suit's abilities. Weiss had chosen a merged-together set of armors. A CQB helmet, with a blue visor, security shoulder pads, HAZOP Chest pad and a TACCOM on her right hand. She examined the armor set, which she chose to paint white with red accents, then moved her fingers. On her hip, Myrtenaster awaited use.

"This feels... different." Ruby stated, from her set of MJOLNIR Scout armor, which she painted red, with a silver visor. The suit also carried several packs and clips of sniper ammunition for Crescent Rose, which she now had placed on her back in idle mode.

"Oh, yeah..." Yang said, checking Ember Celica after having it implanted within the armor's forearm covers. The weapon looked basically the same, but now, it was thought-triggered, like the rest of the suit... She grinned as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had picked an EVA Helmet, GUNGNIR Shoulders and HAZOP breastplate, barely enough to fit her chest, the entire set being painted golden with lilac accents, much to her liking, her visor orange. "Hey, Blakey, enjoying the suits?"

"Damn straight." Blake smirked, checking up on her SECURITY Armor, which she painted black. She nodded to her friends. On her belt, resided Gambol Shroud, ready for combat, and on her back, resided an MA37K Assault Rifle, just a switch in case she needed it. The group of Spartan/Huntresses nodded to the Techs, then stepped off the deck, to meet the glances of their team-mates, aboard the Falcons. In the far back, Jonah's Falcon awaited for them. There, he and Carter were aboard. 6 Falcons prepared for deployment, armed and ready. The girls ran to Jonah's craft and got aboard as the roar of the twin turboprop engines filled the area. Yang sat face-to-face with Ruby, while Blake and Weiss manned the machineguns on the turboprop helicopter's sides. Jonah and Ruby sat side-by-side, weapons prepped on their backs and in locks.

"So!" Yang yelled to Jonah. "What's our target?"

"An ONI Base by the name of _SWORD_! It's under siege by a Covenant Corvette-class."Jonah answered, checking his sniper. "Auntie Dot, NOBLE's AI will fill us in on the way to the Babd Catha Ice Shelf!"

"A Corvette?! You mean a space ship?!" Weiss demanded, cocking the machinegun of the craft. The Helicopters took off, dust and smoke pluming around them as the vehicles pushed upward, taking to the sky. Jonah nodded as he looked on at the base behind them getting smaller and smaller. The other Falcons formed up into a Vee formation around the squadron as they altered the course toward the Ice Shelf.

"Yeah, small compared to the Covies' Capital Ships, but still big enough a pain in the ass to glass a planet!" Jonah answered, then cocked his sniper's bolt back, a round being fed into the SRS-99's chamber. He nodded.

"Oh, that's just _great_!" Weiss said sarcastically as she looked down at the ground rushing below and away from them. "How're we gonna destroy a space ship!"

"We have a few ideas!" Jonah answered. "Hang on! We're going in hot!" He looked to Ruby and nodded in approval. "Welcome to your first mission, Spartans! Let's give the Covies hell!"

"AYE AYE, SIR!" Chorused the girls aboard the aircraft, Blake loading the machinegun and removing its safety.

 **AN:And so, the Prelude to team RWBY and JNPR's deployment is here, with their talks and all. Probably shocked you all there, huh? The Teams will adapt and survive here, considering their weaponry and now, the newly-added MJOLNIR Armor to their set.**

 **P.S. Yes, I considered that the Aura and Augmentations are close relatives, thus why the huntsmen and huntresses can use the Armors. I'm currently considering about unlocking the rest of NOBLE Team's Auras and how to even it all out for RWBY not to be so OP... (Then again, Team JAMR is OP enough... So let's leave it at that)... Some thing's gonna go bad, I have a feeling...**


	4. ONI:Sword Base

_**En-Route to ONI:SWORD Base. Above Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz, Reach.**_

 _ **26th of July 2552 UNSC Standard Military Calendar.**_

Ahead of the six-Falcon squadron, the Babd Catha Ice Shelf's steep cliffs and glacier came into view. The massive natural Ice Sculpture, and below them, water... Just water... To Six, Ten, Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen's right, there was a large rock-formation-type island, its grey mountain-like peaks obstructing their view of ONI Sword Base. The squadron of Falcons passed over the isle, only to sight the Corvette-class Craft. A bulbous hull, with what seemed to be angling prongs laying below it and a massive beam cannon implanted into its belly, painted purple, resembled a Sea Monster more than anything. It had four batteries of Plasma Turrets, each of four cannon barrels, in total, 16 ports able to gun them down. Six tapped his com and looked at the others. Ahead of it, being bombarded, a massive, pyramid-like structure resided, surrounded by walls and with what seemed to be cannons attempting to stave off the attacking ship.

" _Be advised, Kilo-three-three and Kilo-Three-Four, your current LZ is too hot!"_ Reported Sword Base control into Six' ears. He nodded to the others and watched Thirteen prepare Ember Celica and her Assault Rifle.

" _Roger that. Dot, stand by to receive and Respond."_ Answered Carter's voice over radio, overall pretty calm considering what Twelve and Thirteen were staring at. Ten tapped Jonah on the shoulder and he looked at her then nodded. "Stay calm! We have a way of dealing with that thing!" He stated, then turned to his weapons. His MA37K was slung in the chair support beside him. He picked up the boxy and angled rifle and loaded a fresh magazine, cocking the bolt of the weapon back. A round fed into the chamber with a satisfying _click_ , and nodded, then turned to his sniper.

"Y _es, Commander... coordinates received._ _"_ Auntie Dot, Noble's redirected AI chirped, then turned to the Pilots. " _Initiate immediate course correction."_ She continued her Lecture on the base _"The Office of Naval Intelligence SWORD BASE_ _is presently under siege from a corvette-class Covenant vessel. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."_

" _Alright, people."_ Carter answered. " _We're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry - give those troopers a hand."_

On the girls' Heads-Up Displays, as presumably on the rest of the squad's, played images from SWORD Base's outer courtyard. The girls and boys of teams RWBY, JAMR and JNPR could see tracers, Plasma and Needles flying left and right throughout the courtyard. On the right side of the camera, a Trooper with a sniper rifle got nailed through the head, the shot stopping in the helmet. He slumped onto the floor, dead, as the cameras switched. Below the camera's objective, they could see other troopers falling prey just as their Falcons arched back and moved overhead.

 _"Sheesh..."_ Nora chirped over com. " _Our guys are getting their butts handed to them."_

" _Cut the chatter, Nora._ _Kat, Team JAMR and team RWBY, you're out here."_ Carter ordered. " _Emile, Jorge and team JNPR, you're out next._ "

As their Falcon floated above the parking lot of the base, Ruby saw Jonah and, beside them, the second Falcon's passengers, Kat and the rest of JAMR, jumping onto the concrete below. It cracked as they landed and took position, then came RWBY's turn. As Weiss and Blake fired with the helicopter's two side-mounted Chainguns, Ruby and Yang piled out first and readied their weapons, Ruby with Crescent Rose already extended into combat form. She looked at Yang, who moved ahead beside Robert. The two were already pelting the Covenant ahead with grenade and high-explosive fire. Kat walked to Ruby and hit her in the shoulder with her human left hand, then nodded and looked to Jonah.

" _Kat, RWBY, JAMR, push back the Attack on SWORD Base. Find out what we're dealing with."_ Ordered Carter through com.

"Roger that!" Kat answered via com as she moved ahead, opening fire with her pistol. "We're your strike team!" She looked to Ruby "Move, sergeant Rose! Lead your team!" She looked to Jonah. "Let's go, Lieutenant, team JAMR!"

The two nodded, then loaded their weapons and Ruby moved ahead with her team.

"Team RWBY!" She called, reluctantly as she looked at the surrounding Covenant forces. "Let's go!"

"Aye, aye, baby sis!" Yang smirked, then fired with Ember Celica. Ruby nodded, then took off ahead with the rest of them behind her. Up on a catwalk, they saw two Jackal Sharpshooters, lead by an Elite minor in his blue armor, firing at them. Ruby's armor's shields flared golden as a shot from one's Needle Rifle impacted it. She noticed it drop a bit, then took cover behind a crate of UNSC Supplies, 4 gunmetal-green boxes tied together. The girl cocked Crescent Rose, then peeked out and scoped one of the Jackals in. With a squeeze of the trigger, she nailed the alien straight through its wide-open mouth, blood, skull and brain matter blossoming onto the ground, Titanium-A railing and its comrades as it twisted back and fell dead. Ruby took cover as plasma impacted the crate she was hiding behind. She retracted Crescent Rose into its rifle form, then peeked out and fired again, bursting the elite's shields as the shot passed by its head. She cocked the sniper, then slung it behind her back and grabbed a DMR off the ground and rolled out of her cover, firing at the Elite. An armor-piercing shot tore straight through its skull, its strange helmet flung off its head.

Weiss nodded to Ruby as she rushed ahead, yanking a shotgun off her back. Using her Black Glyphs, which she placed on the floor, she ran at top speed in that armor, then, using a white Glyph just as she reached the wall, bounced up onto the Catwalk where she saw a squad of Grunts reinforcing the Jackal, lead by an Elite. She rolled onto the deck, shot with the shotgun, tearing through two Grunts, then yanked out Myrtenaster and parried a strike from the Elite's weapon. She grabbed the shotgun, pumped it, then placed it upon the belly of the Elite as she held his weapon pointed away from her, then squeezed the trigger. The first shot tore through its shields, enough to disorient it. Weiss then slung the shotgun on her back, removed a knife she had in her shoulder pad and stabbed the elite in the eye.

While she was doing that, the only things she could think were _"They aren't human... They're just like the Grimm... They're dark... They're not like your people, Weiss... They'll kill you and your friends the first chance they got..."_ to keep her mind in the game about killing so many at a time. She yanked a pistol off her belt after slinging Myrtenaster back into place and shot twice, killing two of the three grunts with clear head-shots, then drilled a neat new hole in the third's Methane tank. She dodged as the Jackal fired at her with its Needle Rifle, then watched Blake jump up behind it. Upon landing, a wet _crunch_ was heard as Blake's boot made contact with the Alien's long neck. She squashed it down, then stepped off the dead thing's neck, grabbing her Assault Rifle and scanning their surroundings.

"Ruby!" Weiss spoke through com to their lead. "Area's secure up on the base-side catwalk! We're moving to assist the troopers up ahead!"

" _Roger that. I and Yang have cleared out most of the courtyard."_ Ruby answered, the patter of her two M7/Caseless Submachineguns she had picked out as secondaries sounding off in the microphone. " _Except for a pair of Elites... What class are these guys? Oh, Dust! They're carrying concussion rifles!"_ Ruby chirped. Two thuds sounded off, then Weiss looked over the edge, to see Ruby dodging and rolling beside Yang, who had her dual Magnums out, just as two orange explosions charred the concrete beside them. Up on the east-side Catwalk, she could see team JAMR and Kat dealing with an Elite Major and its complement of grunts and Shield Gauntlet Jackals.

" _We're having some trouble with the Major and his little wrecking crew."_ Cued Jonah. " _Michael, left side!"_

 _"I am on it, Lieutenant!"_ Said a calm and calculate voice. Weiss remembered him from back at base. Michael, Noble Eight. She grinned as she saw the Elite fall dead, upon a perfect slice from the boy's sword. Blake tapped her on the shoulder, lightly, but enough to be felt, to which Weiss turned her head. Even through the visor, Blake's inscrutable expression sent a shiver up Weiss' spine, a call back to reality. No time to moon over some boy in her squad... She was at _war._ The two moved forward and encountered Yang and Ruby, who just ran up the catwalk beside them. Ahead, there was squad of Army Troopers from the UNSC 173rd, lead by a female Lieutenant. The girl moved toward the Huntresses, under covering fire by two of her own, then signaled them to come closer.

"What's the situation here, Lieutenant?" Blake asked, looking back at the troopers finishing off the last remnants of Covenant forces in the area.

"Helluva lot better now that you Spartans are here..." She answered, then looked back at her troopers.

"What's your manpower, currently, Lieutenant?" Weiss inquired.

The young girl sighed, then looked back at the dead soldiers of hers littering the courtyard "We lost a few of our guys... First wave was a squad of Elites, they tore right through us."

"I'm sorry to hear." Ruby said, walking up beside the Lieutenant.

"It's fine, ma'am. We're getting payback on the sons-of-bitches and big time! And with y'all here, it's gonna be twice as easy!" The Lieutenant said, pumping her fist beside her. She wrapped her fingers around her MA37K's handle, then moved down back beside her troopers. Yang chuckled at that remark.

"She reminds me of Nora a bit." The blonde stated. Ruby nodded, probably smiling behind her helmet.

"It's good to have hope in these situations." Ruby answered her sister. "C'mon... I think we-"

" _You got Three new contacts, Spartans."_ Interrupted Sword Control. Up above them, three Covenant Phantoms arched down toward them, bombarding their position from their nose-mounted rotary Concussion Cannons. Ruby saw the Strange, Stingray-like transports' troop bays opened, and two squads of Elites, reinforced by a large grouping of Grunts, landed inside the courtyard, right ahead of the Lieutenant. She barely had enough time to react before, with one swing, the Elite cracked her helmet and broke her neck, a quiet snap, but the Redheaded girl heard it. Ruby gasped and stopped, her heart racing like hell, then looked at Yang. She, herself compared the Lieutenant's ecstatic personality to Nora's, lightly too, like she considered the girl a friend already, so the Elites had made a big mistake. The girl's gauntlets were shining golden... That was not a good sign... Yang rushed ahead, then, boosting herself off a ledge, jumped in the middle of the Elites and their crew before her squad could stop her.

" _WHAT THE_ HELL _IS YANG DOING?! She's gonna... Wait, WHAT THE..."_ Demanded Kat, noticing the development. She and the rest of the squad remained stuck, completely shocked, upon seeing the girl erupt in a strange flame. The elites' shields flared blue, then died upon the development. Yang jumped upon an Elite boosting herself onto its leg, punched once... _**CLACK!**_ punched a second time _**CLACK!**_ a third _**CLACK!**_ and the Elite fell dead as its face and head completely disintegrated, a purpleish-blue mist pluming upward. As his brethren recovered from the daze, Yang engaged in close range, elbowing the Major, their leader, in the gut thanks to the recoil of shooting another through the stomach, which tore through its ribcage. Yang kicked up, knocking the teeth out of the elite she elbowed, then slide-kicked around her, knocking the Major and his compatriot off his feet. With a loud clang of the gauntlets, Yang punched both into the ground, shattering the concrete, then turned to the grunts and Jackals, both species cowering behind their armors and shields.

"I'm non-discriminating, you alien assholes! DIE!" And with that, she lurched forward at the hurriedly-formed Phalanx of shields made by the Jackals. Two shields flared red, then died as Yang punched through them, body parts flying left and right, from eyes to whole arms and legs. With a roar, Yang's eyes flared red through her visor, that dark-crimson red the rest of her team knew all too well from her rage-induced charges. Two strikes front, one strike back, another around and six more behind her, her shotgun gauntlets clicked empty and from above her, the red shells of the gauntlets rained onto the ground... A moment of silence ensued as both the Jackals and Grunts stared at her in complete awe, then fell dead, blood pouring from multiple holes left by Yang's gauntlets. Purple blood mixed with fluorescent blue one from the grunts and dark-blue one from the Elites. The girl fell to one knee, then took her helmet off and looked to Kat as the girl and team JAMR Rushed toward the blonde, her eyes crimson, and grinned, the usually snarky ones she bore when it came to a victory, then gave the woman a thumbs up, the barrels of Ember Celica still smoking from the slaughter.

"Yang..." Kat asked, taking her helmet off and revealing the shock-stricken face of the Spartan. "What. The _HELL._ Was that?!" She smirked, crossing her arms.

"THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!" Robert said, taking his helmet off, to reveal the grinning Spartan. "Jesus Christ, can I get a pair of those gauntlets?!"

"They're built by me, like Ruby's weapon is by her own hand." Yang answered, to which she heard Robert moan in disagreement.

"Alright, Spartans." Kat said as she slung her helmet back on her head and cocked her pistol. "About high-time we got the hell out of this courtyard and out into the heat of things."

"Aye, aye." Jonah said, then nodded to Ruby. "C'mon, folks..."

And down the main entry ramp to the building the squad went. Dead bodies littered the concrete around them, both of Marines and of Jackal Skirmishers, their weapons dropped onto the floor. Ruby yanked a Plasma Rifle off the ground, from one of the dead Elites, then a second one, and checked her Ammo Counter. 95% on Right and 75% on left... It'll have to do for now. Ahead of them, emerged another small pack of Skirmishers, which fell quickly by both bullet and plasma from the Spartan/Huntress fireteam. As they entered the main gateway, which was wide open, on the ground in the Northern Wall resided open boxes of Ammunition and Supplies, two of which shone with holographic lighting, one orange, one blue.

"Armor Lock and Bubble Shield." Kat said as she examined the heavier weaponry in the boxes. She tossed Jonah a strange, pistol-like item, then walked to them. "Pick which you want. Six, the thing you have in your hand right now is a Target Locator. I'll ask Sword Control about the possibility of artillery they could redirect." She walked forward and cued her microphone, grinning behind her helmet. She'd heard of heavy weaponry, but when it came to a Target Locator, basically a laser pointer, she could only smile at the upcoming carnage. She spoke "Sword Control, we got a Target Locator. Any artillery support in the area?"

 _"Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am."_ Answered the Sword Control Operator. She nodded, then closed her mic and popped the front door open. It slanted down and locked into the concrete with a loud thud and Kat looked to Six and the others.

"We're ready to go." Alex said, cocking his DMR. "On your mark, Lieutenant-Commander."

"Yeah." Robert nodded, loading his Grenade Launcher. It clicked as the 40 millimeter grenade loaded into the barrel.

"Very good, Spartans!" Kat said, nodding to the squad. "Team RWBY? Ready?"

Yang, who now had the Armor Lock up, nodded. "Hell yeah." She stated, cocking Ember Celica. "Thirteen, good to go."

Blake cued her mic as she walked ahead with the Bubble Shield. "Twelve, at the ready."

Weiss cocked her Shotgun. "Eleven, good to go."

And finally, Ruby brought out Crescent Rose. It extended, then implanted into the ground. You could hear the excitement and determination in her voice as she spoke "Ten, good for a butt-kickin'."

"That weapon never ceases to scare me, Ten." Kat nodded, then slung her pistol up. "Alright, all teams, out and go! We're out and ready to kill!"

The squad dashed forward, their weapons ready for engagement. The dim sunlight of Epsilon Eridani II lit their surroundings. Large mounds of ice-covered Rock rose around the base, red grass and brown dirt surrounding the main entryway as well as two large rocks beside both entryways. Ruby watched as her team-mates scattered and looked ahead. A burning troop warthog was being chased by a pair of Wraiths. Ruby could hear the soldiers' pleas through com as they bobbed and weaved through the barrage from the Plasma Mortars. One of the shots impacted close to her, draining her shields to half. Ahead, dirt flash-dried, burned and then bubbled, turning to Grass. Ruby watched as the Warthog dove toward her, answering how the first shot came to be so close to her, then watched her team-mates.

Jonah rushed up one of the rocks as his team-mates employed Covering Fire, Grenades struck the Wraits' Bulbous hulls, alongside with bullets, each bouncing off. A grenade implanted into the machinegunner atop, killing him. The Elite gunner slumped onto the Machinegun and it pointed upward, due to the Elite's heavy weight. The girl could see Michael ahead, attempting to distract both Wraiths. They fired toward him, plasma MGs and the likes focused particularly on the sword boy. Ruby looked to Weiss and made a hand signal to move and aid. The girl in snow-white MJOLNIR nodded, then rushed ahead, using her glyphs. Ruby set her sniper up and opened fire, covering the Troop hog rushing toward her again. It slid to a halt three feet from Ruby, stopped and the soldiers piled out of it, then took cover, scattered around the rocky surroundings. The girl fired once, nailing the second gunner and probably saving both Weiss and Michael a cruel death at the hands of Plasma. The two nodded to her and she gave them a thumbs up... She entered a strange state for her... Almost no thought ran through her head... She was breathing, but it was slowed and every action she seemed to do was slowed down... Time was slowing down around her... Her reflexes were also better now...

She heard of it... She was in _Spartan Time_!

 _"This is awesome!"_ Ruby thought as she adjusted every shot she took as more Covie soldiers arrived. She shot once, tearing through an Elite Minor's shield and breastplate. The alien twisted back, its back snapping as it fell onto the ground. A pool of blood formed around its body, but Ruby was too busy to notice... She took another shot from the distance, nailing another one. She was grinning the whole time. One shot, One Kill.

Robert and Jonah crawled up the steep rock edge as the Wraiths around bobbed and weaved, trying to deal with Michael and, surprisingly, Weiss, as distractions, while Alex moved with Blake onto dealing with Covies at close range. Jonah grinned upon sighting Gambol Shroud, Blake's weapon, gutting through two aliens. The boys helped each-other climb and, finally, were at the summit. Jonah nodded to Robert, who pulled out his grenade Launcher and shot an EMP Grenade between the Wraiths. It detonated, shutting down the vehicles' electronics. The two fell with quiet thumps onto the dirt below and Jonah zeroed them in with the Target Locator. It bleeped and screamed and on the whole squad's HUDs, showed up two Red Circles, a 'warning' sign in the middle. The two red circles switched to bright-orange and finally, the ground ahead shook and shuddered as high-explosive shells rained down upon it. The two Wraiths exploded into balls of blue-golden flames, shattering. Shrapnel fell into the ground below and implanted there firmly.

"Outstanding!" Yelled Kat as she took down another two elites with her pistol. "Good job, JAMR and RWBY!"

The squads met up in the middle of the canyon they fought in. Blake walked toward them with Alex, both their weapons slung behind their backs. Blake nodded to the group, and upon looking at the Troop Hog, noticed that a bunch of soldiers were fixing it up. From them, another woman, this one bearing Ruby's Rank on her shoulder pad, moved out ahead toward them, her pistol and Assault Rifle slung on her back. She grinned as she walked to the Spartans, then extended her hand toward Kat.

"I'm Sergeant Mia Tores, same platoon as the guys inside Sword." She stated. Kat nodded to her and shook her hand.

"I'm Noble Two. These around me are my team-mates." She answered.

"I know." Tores smirked, taking her helmet off, revealing bright-golden long hair. "Thanks for the rescue back there... Thought me and my boys in Xiphos squad were FUBAR."

"Nothin' like two Wraiths to get the blood pumpin', right Sarge?" Inquired Robert, grinning.

"Damn straight, Spartan." She stated, slinging her helmet under her arm, grinning as she pulled out a Sweet Williams Cigar. "Any of you got a light?"

"We do not smoke." Michael stated, crossing his arms.

"Right, right." She stated, then yanked out her own lighter. She covered the flame port with her hand and clicked twice, three times, then the flame ignited. Smoke puffed out from her mouth, then she clicked the lighter closed and slung it in her pocket. She puffed deeply from the Cigar, then threw some ash onto the ground from it. "Didn't know y'all were hiring, NOBLE. Last time I heard from Command, I knew your squad was formed of nine troopers."

Kat looked to team RWBY "Uhh..." She looked back to Tores. "We picked up a few stragglers along the way... They joined willingly."

"Understood." Tores said, then puffed from her cigar and saluted. She turned 180 degrees and marched away toward her boys, then started sprinting. The girls and boys heard the hum of two Pelicans moving above them. The Gunmetal green transports touched down ahead of them and dropped Warthogs, two to be exact, onto the ground ahead. One of them had a Gauss Cannon, while the other had a simple machinegun. The squad heard the com sounding off with the voice of the Sword Control's Com officer.

 _"The old Farragut Station has its own comms array that should bring us back online with command. Airview Base has an Anti-Air Battery that will help clear the skies."_ The man spoke. Kat looked to Six and nodded. Ruby looked to Weiss, Blake and Yang, who walked up to her.

"There's not enough space in there for us, the Marines and team JAMR. You, Jonah and Kat move on ahead." Weiss said, cocking her shotgun. "The rest of JAMR got defenses here with Tores' squad. While we will go to Farragut."

"Okay." Ruby chirped, nodding, then looked ahead. Kat boarded one Hog, while Jonah took the other. He signaled her to move to her and grab the Gauss Gun. She nodded, then sprinted to him after waving to her team. She jumped onto the Gauss Cannon of the hog and locked her feet safely onto the vehicle's steel-grated turret floor. Without a warning, the vehicle lurched forward, making Ruby grasp the gun's two handles fast and tight. She leaned in and straightened up, then looked through the scope of the gun. Night Vision, Scanning, HEAT SIGN Detection... She grinned as she peeked through and saw Covies ahead. She took aim and fired, the shot missing the Elite she aimed for by inches. She zeroed in again, then as the gun's Coils cycled again, she fired, blasting apart an Elite and, ahead of it, a Revenant, a crimson-red wraith-like vehicle, the smaller brother of the Wraith, shattering it as the shot tore through its armor, then entered the internals.

"Wow... Good weapon..." Ruby said, then looked to Kat. She nodded.

 _"Ruby, Jonah. We're at the Secondary Com relay at Farragut..."_ Weiss said as gunfire rattled through the com.

" _We're encounterin' some heavy resistance here."_ Yang added, the gunfire intensifying due to her being on the MG. " _Some big red Manta-ray thing with a baby plasma mortar's trying to kill us... Buuut~..."_ An explosion sounded off in the background, amplified by Yang's helmet speakers. " _Got it~!"_ She almost sang that last part. Jonah snorted. He looked on ahead as he drove, but spoke, probably smiling behind his helmet,

"Your sister's a real piece of work, ya know that, Ruby?"

"Yeah..." Ruby answered, peeking through the scope. "I've known that since being in the same family with her, Jonah..."

A burst of static screamed in their ears, then died down. Weiss' voice yet again came over the com relay as they neared the position of the AA Gun. She sounded relieved this time around, so they must've done something good.

" _Strike-two to Strike-one, c_ _ommunications are up and running."_ She stated, actual pride swelling in her voice as her shotgun blast was heard in the background, along with a disembodied scream of pain, seemingly an Elite's. _"We're on our way back to Sword."_

"Copy all, Strike-two. Safe trip." Jonah said, pointing ahead for Ruby to see the AA Gun, a massive rotary minigun with a large drum below it entitled AMMO. She grinned, then took aim ahead. The girl leveled the muzzle of the Gauss cannon and fired, blasting an Elite apart with just one shot. The rest of the squad disembarked, while she remained and kept away a Phantom from landing and deploying reinforcements. She saw Kat and Jonah rush up the stair case and notice Jonah setting up with his sniper, while Kat clicked a button. She checked her HUD and looked ahead as the gun started to rotate. She let the Phantom close distance, then saw the rotary gun open fire. Controlled bursts. After 2 of those, the Phantom's engines died and it detonated in a bright-blue and crimson blaze, dropping shrapnel and parts all over. Ruby nodded and fired again.

" _Noble Strike-1, this is Noble Lead. Get back to SWORD ASAP."_ Carter demanded via com. Ruby saw Jonah jump back aboard the driver's seat, while Kat jumped into the passenger seat.

"We're on our way, Actual!" Kat said, then looked to Jonah. "Floor it!"

"Aye!" The boy called, then turned the Hog and pressed the pedal hard as he set it into the fastest speed possible. The vehicle dived over rocks, took corners fast and finally, ahead of them appeared Sword base's Gate, where a squad of Covenant seemingly began an assault. Two Revenants. Ruby nodded, and without saying a word, focused the Gauss on them. A crimson light shot next to them, detonating the ground, but it didn't do anything to Ruby's aim. She squeezed the trigger and the Revenant's main cannon burst. Another shot as the coils recycled and it detonated in a bright haze. Kat jumped out as they lurched past the second Revenant, boarded it and grabbed her pistol off her hip. The Elite roared at her and the woman shoved her gun down its throat. Three squeezes of a trigger and three muffled clacks later, the Covenant soldier fell dead at the wheel of the Revenant. It stopped with a thump and Kat jumped off, holstering her pistol as the rest of team RWBY watched her, awed.

"You're not the only one who can do sick moves, Xiao-Long." Kat said. "C'mon! Oughta get inside!"

The courtyard, though yet again occupied by Covenant troops, was cleared easily, but as the girls went down into the underground Parking Lot, ahead, two hulking monsters appeared. They had massive plates of alloy stuck to their left arms, serving as bulletproof shields, and they were working. Inside the strange armors, which had large spikes on their backs that twitched, there were strange worm-like creatures... Orange in color... Eels. Ruby didn't waste a second as she unslung Crescent Rose from her belt. The others moved out around her, forming a semicircle.

From behind cover, Robert noticed their backup had arrived and gave the guys a thumbs up. He grabbed a plasma grenade off from the ground, primed it and threw it. The blue orb of shimmering energy stuck to the hulking Covenant creature, then blew up. Its backside armor Shattered and the Eel colony inside roared in unison, either from pain or Rage. Robert grabbed his grenade launcher and started firing toward the Hunter pair, quiet thuds as the grenades ejected. They detonated beside the hunter, sending more Shrapnel flying through the hurt one, while the other turtled behind his shield.

The Hunters, each, turned to face one Target. The undamaged Hunter turned to face team JAMR, blocking their view of the damaged one's back, while the other faced team RWBY, Jonah and Kat. Its arm-mounted Fuel Rod Gun heated up, green energy gathering in the barrel, then the green blob shot off. It detonated as it struck the concrete a foot back from Ruby. The place it hit heated, bubbled and turned to glass. Ruby ignored the searing heat as she zeroed in with her sniper. It clanged and the shot struck the shield, pinging off of it harmlessly. She looked to Weiss, who nodded and sent Ice Glyphs flying the way of the alien, while Yang fired at the other with Ember Celica, covering the rest of JAMR. Jonah unslung his sniper and, while the wounded Hunter was distracted, he squeezed the trigger, blasting through its 'head', orange goop falling onto the ground. Its metallic armor thumped onto the ground as it fell dead and the other's back was exposed. Ruby fired... And the shot tore its abdomen in half, shattering the Eel colony inside.

Another one dead. Ruby re-bolted her sniper.

"C'mon, folks!" Kat said, cocking her pistol. "Rest of the squad's holed up in the atrium. The Elevator's just ahead."

"Aye aye..." Everyone said. They entered the elevator, rather cramped for that many Spartans, but they fit... The ride up was a quiet one as the squad checked their ammo and reloaded their guns for whatever they were about to encounter atop the shaft. Impact sounds were deafened by the Elevator's metallic shaft, but still present. The place shuddered as Plasma Round from the Corvette impacted the wall. Ruby grabbed onto the railing of the Elevator and looked ahead at Yang. The girl gave her sister a thumbs up and showed her to stay calm.

" _Corvette's hitting this base hard..."_ Emile muttered over Com.

"Where's our orbital support?" Kat demanded, reloading her pistol. Her voice was full of iritation. "Got to be four platforms that could take it out with a single MAC Round."

"'member Dot told us about the place?" Alex inquired, crossing his arms. Kat groaned and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah... The 'sensitive nature' bull..." Robert added, checking his Grenade Launcher. He slung it behind his back and yanked out a shotgun he had recovered from one of the dead troopers, then cocked the pump back. A shell fed into the chamber and he nodded, then looked to Alex. "Least we aren't going around blasting the place like the Covies are..."

"Agreed." Jonah said, readying his Assault Rifle. He looked to Ruby. "You may wanna switch to your SMGs here... This is close quarters, no spot for Crescent Rose to fit through just yet."

Ruby nodded to Jonah, then yanked out the two jet-black Submachineguns and examined them. Upon looking up at her HUD, she noticed the clips were near empty. She dropped the empty ones on the floor and slung new clips into the feeders, locking them with a satisfying _Click_. She looked to Blake, who also prepared Gambol Shroud for the engagement, while Yang had Ember Celica at the ready as always, while Weiss had her shotgun and Myrtenaster both prepared.

"First time I've seen you dual-wielding, Weiss." Ruby said. The white-haired girl nodded to her, then slung the shotgun on her back saying, "You're right... Probably best if I stuck to my signature weapon..."

The elevator hissed closed and the Base's AI Greeted the squad.

"WELCOME TO THE OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. AN ONI REPRESENTATIVE WILL MEET YOU SHORTLY."

Kat snorted "I doubt that very much." and stepped through the scanners, her pistol blasting three grunts' heads inside out. She looked to the Elite being taken down by Yang's Ember Celica, blood splattering onto the white walls behind him. It slumped to the ground and died, then the squad continued their advance. At a doorway, they saw Jun, Carter and Jorge engaging Covenant forces. The Atrium they were in was tall, a large space with glass catwalks going from spot to spot, like a canyon city. Ahead and atop the tallest parts of the place were the main windows, through which light escaped onto the base. The walls were a dull grey color and above, the squad could see the UNSC Army troopers exchanging fire with the Covenant forces, but no one dared advance.

As Ruby looked down, she noticed team JNPR. Jaune and Pyrrha were fending off a pair of elites, holding them at shield point as they attempted to strike with the swords. Pyrrha scored a lucky strike on an elite, then kicked under it, making it lose balance. As it fell, she stabbed it through the chest cavity, bursting its shield. She implanted the sword deep into its ribs, then yanked it out and defended Jaune from a Jackal sniper with a Needle Rifle, setting Miló into Rifle form. She snapped the rifle toward the bird-like alien and fired. It squawked as the shot hit it square in the head, then fell off the ledge, landing onto the ground with a wet crunch and a thump.

"Forget my past estimates..." Jonah said, yanking his sniper off his back and firing toward the Elites perched on the catwalks, who were raining plasma down on Nora and Ren. He shot once, twice, an elite fell dead from the height, landing onto a strange rock in the middle of the decorative fountains on the bottom floor, leaving a blood trail on it and nearly implanting the sharp, jagged edge into his stomach. He rolled off the rock, bleeding from his head, missing an eyeball.

"This is an all-out sniper Free-for-all." Yang said. Carter stood up and fired his DMR. Another Jackal sharpshooter fell dead, this one staying on its perch. Yang looked to Carter and gave the man a thumbs up, then looked up and said smugly, "If you guys need me, I'll be up high. It's gonna be raining Ayys."

" _Ayys_?" Carter inquired, looking at Ruby. The girl shrugged and Yang groaned, looking back at Carter.

"Ayys means Aliens, just shorter..." She stated. Blake could only chuckle at the remark. She engaged alongside Alex, opening fire upward.

"Okay... That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard..." Jun said, blasting another Jackal through its avian skull. "But I think we can deal with it for the time being."

"Well... Ayy-lee hop!" Yang smirked, pushing herself up with the recoil of Ember Celica. The strength of the blasts shattered the decorated concrete below her as she flew high, her shields flaring due to the detonations. She landed atop the lowest Catwalk and grinned upon sighting the shocked grunts and Elites staring at her. She knew she'd make an impression... Then again, nor were the UNSC ARMY troopers around her firing.

"THAT WAS A HORRIBLE PUN!" She heard Jun bark at her from ground level as he snapped another shot, bursting a Grunt's head into a gooey blue paste. She grinned, then noticed 4 dots around her HUD Motion Tracker... She noticed them fill up quickly upon four soldiers joining her, of which there was Lieutenant Tores. The soldiers opened fire around her, then she understood... That was the FIRETEAM System, in which IFF tags of friendlies get added to a temporary fireteam upon closing in on her position. She nodded, then cocked Ember Celica by pumping her hands back, then looked to Tores and said, full of sass, "Try to keep up, Lieutenant." Then lurched forward, jumping onto the Elites. The first one she made contact with was planted, split-jawed face-first into the concrete below, cracking it. She looked at an Elite close in and attempt to strike her with its plasma rifle.

"Eh, eh, eh... Nope." She smirked, punching upward and disarming the elite. Its shields drained, but it stood standing. She struck again, draining the weakened shields, then tearing through its lower abdomen with the blast. The shot shattered the Elite in half, but Yang jumped off of it and struck two grunts' heads together soon after. She looked ahead, to see another Elite, this one white, with a concussion rifle, firing at her. She let the blast impact her gauntlets. Her shields drained to 12%, then sluggishly struggled to recharge, but by the time they were up to 20%, she had already punched the elite's hinge-jawed face in. A second decloaked behind her, but fell dead upon sustained fire from the Troopers, of which Tores ran up to her, grinning.

"We're keepin' up, Xiao-Long." She stated in a very calm tone, chewing gum. "Now, it's time to chew bubblegum and kick ass..." She spat the gum onto a dead Elite. "And I'm all outta bubblegum."

"Haha!" Yang said, then nodded to Tores and her troopers. The group continued to advance together and soon, not too far behind them, the rest of the squad Emerged. Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby began deploying sustained fire from both AR, DMR and Plasma Rifle ahead. Yang looked at Pyrrha wielding two Plasma Rifles from two dead elites and motioned her hands as if she was asking 'What the hell?'. She received Pyrrha's answer, a calm nod as the girl continued to fire. Ahead of them, Team JAMR was taking care of business. Yang grinned, then lurched ahead and grabbed Robert by the forearm. The two went ahead as Yang pushed herself with Ember Celica's free gauntlet and Robert laughed, opening fire with his Assault Rifle.

" _Come at me, and you'll see, I'm more than meets the Ayy._ " the blonde sang mockingly as she struck two Aliens down with her fists, then yanked her Assault Rifle off her back and peppered another five Grunts and two Jackals with bullets. Pools of alien blood formed below her feet, but all she could do was smile as she continued kicking ass. She was the one with the least problems in killing the aliens who threatened her and her friends' lives. She heard Robert snicker over the com, then saw two grenades flying above her and impacting a squad of Grunts, lead by another Elite Minor, head on. They detonated, shattering the aliens with cold precision.

"Ayys are down." Smirked the Spartan, cocking his Grenade launcher and slinging it behind his back.

"Nice shot." She answered as they waited for the squad to catch up with them.

"Thanks, BlawnDee. Not so bad yourself." The boy shot back, blasting a surviving grunt with his Magnum sidearm, of course, without even looking. "How about after this is all over, we grab something to eat back at base camp, my treat."

"Hah. Got yourself a deal, Cops and Robbie." She nodded, then cocked Ember Celica as the squad caught up to them... She could hear Ruby and her friends panting after struggling to keep up with Yang's high speed. They continued to rush, encountering several more bouts of resistance in the immediate vicinity, but nothing they couldn't handle. Finally, upon making it up to the top floor, they located Emile and the Breach he was talking about. Around the charred spot in the roof, blasted by a Covenant Energy Weapon, Yang could see a Covie Phantom moving out ahead. It touched down and deployed... Nothing...

"Watch out!" Emile called, firing away at the Banshee fliers escorting the stingray-like transport. "SpecOps elites, cloaked!"

Yang looked ahead as the air rippled and saw a boulder of Plasma from the Phantom's cannon rush toward her. Upon remembering she had armor lock, she grinned and punched the ground. A blue-tinted overshield formed around her as the shots impacted and harmlessly bounced off the enhanced lock. She looked ahead to see ripples in the air gather around her and grinned. As the whirr of her armor lock dissipated, she unlocked it and sent a short-range EMP around her. The Elites clutched their firsts together as the EMP disabled their shields and locks. The Spec-Ops moved about, but too-little-too-late. Yang had already struck two down. She looked behind her, to see Robert grabbing a SPnKr Rocket launcher, then moving ahead to help Emile. The girl looked on ahead with a smile on her face as the remaining Elites fell dead upon fire from Ruby's Crescent Rose and the others' weapons. She grabbed a launcher off the ground, slung it on her shoulder and took aim, her lock-on suites in the suit linking to the launcher. The dot that surrounded one of the banshees flickered red and Yang grinned.

She fired...

An exhaust trail plumed behind her Launcher's barrel. The rocket arched, bobbed and weaved through the air as the Banshee attempted to dodge, but struck the canopy of the bulbous aircraft dead-on. It shattered in a bright-crimson, fiery storm, then its remains fell into the water below. Water... Yang looked up. She had been to busy trying to save herself and her friends from the cloaked Elites she hadn't noticed what was ahead. Through the gaping hole, she saw the Corvette closing in on the base, bombarding it with its forward plasma Batteries. The seamonster-like ship floated above an ice-cold bit of the sea she remembers having passed by aboard the Falcon. She grinned, then looked ahead. Two rockets struck the retreating Phantom, destroying its back Rudders. It banked, arched downward and crashed into the icy lake below, exploding. The remaining Banshees fell not too late after...

The squad sat down at the edge of the metallic flooring that had been melted below them, Ren with his legs crossed, a surprising maneuver for someone wearing the five-tonne MJOLNIR suits. The two hunter teams removed their helmets and looked on ahead, Yang leaned back and grinning, as two triangular aircraft hurtled at high-speed toward the Corvette, which had turned tail and ran. Above them, on their feet, Team JAMR sat, overlooking the show, Robert grinning with his helmet off, like the rest of them. Yang gave the blonde boy a thumbs up and he nodded back, then pointed ahead.

The squad gasped upon seeing the high-velocity slug gutting through the middle of the Corvette and, as it crashed, they stood up, some cheering, others clapping. Yang could only cheer on as she saw a show like that. A Covie Corvette downed. It was flaming from the top down to the glassing port below its main deck, crashing prow-first into the lake which would now become its watery, cold grave for the rest of damned eternity.

"Wahoo!" Yang cheered. "Suck on that one, Ayys!" She was jumping, in a complete daze, as if she had just discovered her actual desire, what to do with her life... Her sister looked at her, smiling.

 _Heh... Some things never change..._ Ruby thought happily as she cheered at the returning Longswords.

"Beautiful ain't it?" Jorge said, taking everyone's attention. "Someone should take a picture."

"Agreed..." Michael grinned, then nodded as Weiss looked at him. "That was a good show of strength from us."

"Woah, first time I've seen ya smile since we were around here, Ice King." Robert said, crossing his arms. "Must be ecstatic we're finally kickin' Hinge-jaw ass?"

"You could say that, Robert." Michael answered, looking at his comrade. "You could definitely say that..."

"Nice work, you lot." Jorge said, crossing his arms.

"We aim to please..." Jonah smirked, holding his helmet slung under his arm. Carter's voice called over coms, particularly calm. _"Five, JAMR, JNPR and RWBY, down to the science wing... Doctor Halsey wants a debrief with all of us and command said we're all hers."_

Jorge gasped, tapping his helmet com twice "Repeat? Sounded like you said Halsey."

 _"I did."_ Carter answered calmly.

"Roger that, we're on our way." Jorge stated, then looked to the others, removing his helmet to reveal the smiling old man. "Command don't need to tell me. Been all hers half my life."

"Okay... We'll be right with you." Ruby said as the lot stood up, grabbing their weapons... She noticed something... Fluffy... Moving beside them... and grinned. "Just gotta deal with something up here..."

"Very well. C'mon Jonah, Alex, Michael and Robbie." Jorge answered, slinging his helmet under his arm. The group walked to the Elevator and boarded it, clicking onto the science wing's button. The elevator hummed and started moving. A few minutes later, the five members of NOBLE walked inside, their helmets off their heads as they slowly stepped through. They heard Halsey talking and saw her. The woman was rather old, a near-perfect face, no wrinkles except around her eyes' and mouth's corners. Her black hair had all greyed out by now and she spoke with the resolve of a Navy Admiral.

"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep. _What_ I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement—" She stopped and cast a sideways glance as Jorge entered the room, stepping past the guards with Six, Seven, Eight and Nine, then nodded. "Jorge... It's been too long..."

"Ma'am." The Spartan nodded to her.

"What have you done with my armor?" She asked, part happy, part surprised at the extensive modification of the MJOLNIR Suit set Jorge wore. The Four Spartans of JAMR and he himself examined the armor, then he spoke awkwardly, "Just some... Additions I made..."

"Indeed..." She stated, then turned back to Carter "Visegrad Relay. Its data center was home to one of my Xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad." She continued, leaning on what seemed to be a stand. "Perhaps _you_ could shed some light on his death."

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant Energy Sword through his abdomen." Carter said, almost mechanical, almost emotionless.

"Elites, then?" Halsey inquired, receiving a nod from Jorge. He added to the conversation "They engaged us as well. It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"

"Irrelevant." Halsey said coldly. "The Elites. Tell me about them."

"Three, Zealot Class," Jorge said, straightening up his tone. "One got by us, the leader, from the looks of him."

"Zealots?" Halsey asked, shock streaking across her otherwise-calm face. "Are you Certain?"

"Armor configuration matched." Jorge answered, crossing his arms.

"Shield strength, too." Jonah said, crossing his arms.

"My head's still pretty sore after it hit me..." Robert murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

"I gave the order not to Pursue." Carter said. "Our primary objective was getting the station's Relay back online."

"Primary objective, Commander are you a Puppet or a Spartan?" Halsey asked in a more personal tone, shocking everyone in the room, most of all Carter. Emile and Jun looked up to Halsey, the later smiling at the comment she made.

"Ma'am?" He inquired, a bit angered, but attempting not to show it.

"There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away." Halsey snarled, crossing her arms.

"Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to." Carter answered, this time with a grin.

"Like warning the planet." Kat added, joining in on the Conversation.

"Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to "a latchkey discovery". _Latchkey._.. Not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander _stole_ contains it." Halsey said, looking at Kat, disapprovingly.

"Kat?" Carter snapped his steely gaze to his NCO. She sighed, then pulled the data chip out of her pocket and placed it in a basket that Halsey extended from the stand. She slung it back and picked it up.

"Before you ask, I was warned about you trying to access it like I am with any unauthorized tap." She looked to cat, then snarled "I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."

"Then maybe you'd like to join her, my good doctor." Michael said, walking up beside Kat. Everyone looked to him, a bit surprised, even Halsey.

"He's right." Carter said, nodding and placing a hand on Michael's shoulder. "We're under emergency planetary directive, _WINTER CONTINGENCY_?" He continued, lowering his hand and crossing his arms. "I'm sure you're aware of Civilian Punishment for interfering with a Spartan Deployment."

"Are you _threatening_ me, Commander?" Halsey demanded, clenching her right fist. Her voice was full of venom.

"Just making a reading suggestion, ma'am..." Carter said. Halsey sighed, then nodded and looked back at them.

"There's this... Other matter. From your reports I understand you've recovered a group of eight teenagers with extraordinary abilities?" Halsey inquired, slinging the Data Module in her pocket. This time, her voice sounded soft, like a caring mother's, rather than an angry bear's.

"Yes, ma'am." Carter answered. "They're part of NOBLE team now... Their physiology matched that of a Spartans well enough, so, after giving them our Neural Implants, they became NOBLE members... The first Spartans with family names, to add to that."

"I see... Intriguing... Where are they now?" She asked. Carter looked back at Jonah, who shrugged, then looked back at Halsey.

"Uhh... They said they'd be coming down in a few minutes..." Jorge said. "They're late."

Just as Jorge had finished, the squadron of eight Huntsmen and Huntresses walked into the room, crowding the spot a bit as they arranged themselves into a line, all of their helmets clipped to their belts. They saluted Halsey, then she nodded, scanning each and every one of them... Until she stopped at one who carried an animal of sorts... The animal was small, with white, black and light brown, had beady black eyes and its tongue was sticking out, its small ears twitching, its front legs hanging over Ruby's arms. It waggled its tail as it noticed Halsey and the woman stopped, her eyes wide...

"What. In the name of all that is saint... Is that?" Halsey asked, trying not to squeal in excitement. Everyone looked at Ruby, holding the dog as it waggled its tail. It barked and Kat couldn't help herself.

"D'awwh~! That thing is so CUTE!" Exclaimed the NCO of the squad, receiving glances from everyone around, even Ruby and Carter. She looked at Carter, blushing slightly and then asked "What?!"

"N-Nothing..." Carter said, then looked at the dog. "Ruby... Who's that?"

"Oh, this?" Ruby held the dog up. "This is Zwei... my and Yang's dog."

It barked in agreement. Ruby let it down and it waddled to Carter on its four legs, then pushed himself up, balancing on the back two as he stood on their ends, its front legs bent. Carter knelt to it and looked the little guy in its eyes, picking him up, slowly and steadily. It looked up at him, still holding that tongue-out smile... Carter smiled back at the little guy, then held him close to his chest. Halsey was twitching and sweating profusely... All she could do was stare at the dog.

"You... Have to be kidding me..." She stated. "What... How did... When did this furball end up here?"

"Doc, if we had an answer to that, this guy would probably be back at base..." Carter answered, looking down at the puppy. "Uhm... What do we do with him?"

"Well... We always wanted to use Zwei as a mascot for something... Maybe, NOBLE Team's?" Ruby asked. Zwei looked up at Carter yet again, locking glances with him. He stopped to process the request and grinned, then looked to Halsey. Blake facepalmed then left the room first, before anyone else, followed by Alex.

"What?" Halsey asked, twiddling her thumbs. "What are you looking at me for, Commander?" She weakly laughed, looking at the dog.

"Uhh... You're giving the dog a pretty crazy stare, doctor..." Jun said, grinning. He whispered to Emile "Bet you twenty credits she passes out after looking at this dog for too long?"

Emile snickered "Not taking that, buddy. Not stupid."

"C-Commander... You're dismissed..." She stated, turning around, blushing for some odd reason. "I have to get back to work..."

"Yes ma'am..." Carter answered. "C'mon Nobles, we're moving out."

And the squad left Halsey alone. She leaned back on the stand and sighed.

"That had to be the CUTEST THING I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE!" She exclaimed. "I'm so happy!"

"Uhh... Ma'am?" She jumped upon hearing Jorge's voice and looked back, shock streaking across her beet-red face.

"Uhh... That'll be all... Jorge..." She said, embarrassed...

"Yes, ma'am." Jorge grinned, leaving the room. Halsey fell onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Thank _god_..." She murmured, sighing deeply.

 **AN:And... Cue Zwei-induced Heart Attack...**

 **I had to... I JUST HAD TO! IT WAS TOO GOOD TO PASS UP!**

 **Aaanyway... Next chapter will probably be more squad-based interaction between NOBLE and the Huntsmen and Huntresses... See ya next time...**

 **I'll need to bleach my brain now after imagining Halsey squealing in happiness at the sight of Zwei...**

 **ForsakenSpartan, Over and OUT!**


	5. Nightfall

_**Firebase UMBRA**_

 _ **Spartan-II and III Rally Point, undisclosed Location in the Viery Territory**_

 ** _Early morning, 11th of August 2552 UNSC Standard Military Calendar._**

Ruby stared at the sunrise, her helmet off her head, eyes out and focused at the crimson horizon as the blaring orange sun rose from its depth. Thoughts of the combat from several weeks ago ran through her head... The deaths she's witnessed, the death's she's caused and the people she somehow managed to rescue. Pelicans pockmarked the skies ahead, flying low or high above the forest canopy below the cliffside she overwatched the movement from. The girl sighed and picked up her helmet, then turned to the Firebase, a large, large concentration of UNSC Buildings and Vehicles, from the simple scout Mongoose to the heavily armed and armored Scorpion Main Battle Tanks.

Ahead of her, a girl clad in a MJOLNIR set she dubbed 'Titan', walked through, DMR in hand. White armor with blue accents around the legs and arms. A knife was strapped to her chest, on its blade, symbols, etched dead into the blade, which was held into place by strong magna-locks. Undamaging to the armors, but strong enough to keep the knife locked. Her OPERATOR Helmet with the sniper sight adding onto the set, she had a simple chest plate and both shoulders, HAZOP, alongside a GPS Locator on her left hand, which flashed orange once. The nickname 'Titan' came from the extra shield modifications the Spartan added to the armor. It was now double the strength, and upon bursting, the energy transported into the HUD's targeting systems and motion, thought and reaction enhancers, effectively boosting power.

"Spartan Rose." She said, removing her helmet to reveal bright blue hair, amber eyes and several cuts across her face. Ruby nodded to her, saluting.

"Petty Officer, ma'am." The Red mused, receiving the salute back from the Petty Officer and an 'at ease'.

"It's just Irene." The girl smirked, sarcasm filling her next sentence "Or Spartan-II Petty Officer Irene-091, if we're going rank basing. I'd rather hear the whole thing."

"Understood." Ruby answered, sighing. She had heard sarcasm before from Yang. Puns, Jokes, but Irene's sarcasm was an all-clear sign of her less-serious nature... She'd heard Irene was the head of NAVSPECWAR III's Night-time ops and also knew that their next operation would take place at Nightfall, when the moon of Reach was high in the sky... That was a way off, but she wasn't into stealth, or the dark or... Anything related, really. She preferred if an assignment or mission was during the day time, she had her feet planted firmly on the ground and she had a long distance away from her targets when she was sniping, or long enough not to get touched while using Crescent Rose's Scythe Mode.

"Something the matter, Ruby?" Irene asked, genuinely concerned this time. Ruby nodded.

"Yeah... I'm not really the 'Night-Time ops' type of Gal... You should bring Blake..." Ruby kept talking, almost sure of herself She has some uncanny nightvision abilities, even through her faceplate." Then realized the idiocy she'd just spewed out of her mouth, an idiocy that could cost her and her friends a comrade "Uhh... Forget I said anything..." She turned tail and started moving to the mess hall, but stopped, upon feeling the weighted gauntlet of Irene placed upon her shoulder. She turned her head, to meet the steely amber glance of the old-but-young Spartan, the uncanny gaze like that of a mother's.

"Listen, kid." Irene said as the two moved together to the mess hall "I know fear when I see it. Hell, I've been afraid of death since day one of induction into the SPARTAN Corps." She placed a hand on her face, pressing against a fresher scar on the side of her neck "You see this? I got this from an Elite's Energy Dagger just over a week ago, while my heart was thumping outta my chest, hell, nearly outta my armor, when I felt blood on my neck." She continued, then stretched the wound, but not by much, making Ruby cringe, but she continued talking "Fear's just bullshit that's stuck in our heads. It's either up to us to keep stepping in it, or to jump past it and move on with our lives."

"Odd analogy, Petty Officer." Ren spoke as calm and collected as ever. The boy was sitting, knelt under an acacia tree that had grown strangely, very crooked, in the middle of the base. "But a good lesson, nonetheless."

Irene grinned, then gave Ren a thumbs up, "Thanks, Ninja boy. Where's Ginger Psycho?"

"Nora's in the mess hall." Ruby said, looking at Ren in his meditative stance, still stuck on how the hell he bent his legs like that to keep them steady in an armor that severely restricted some moves they could make, while adding heavily to the others, a good trade-off, but still weird. She continued her sentence, throwing Ren's agility considerations, and how many bones the boy must've broken to achieve those positions, into the back of her head "'s why I was going there in the first place."

"Goin' to see her?" Irene smirked, then chuckled "Not surprised, you two are like two peas in a pod... Two... Grenade Launcher/Hammer and Scythe/Sniper armed peas in a pod... What the fuck kinda world do you come from, kid? Hell, we had our problems with the Innies when first-recruited, but whatever you had to deal with that necessitates that much concussive force, slicing, dicing and projectile-based mayhem must be one helluva FUBAR world."

Ruby chuckled "Well, in truth, it is pretty bad... Monsters 'round every corner ready to kill us, a peaceful-turned-genocidal anti-racism organization, some madwoman plotting all sorts of schemes..." She thought back, then sighed, smiling "It's a pretty crazy world, alright."

"But it's your home and you miss it." Irene added, crossing her arms as she received a slight nod from Ruby, who frowned. The girl sighed, then slid her helmet back on her head, slamming Ruby in the shoulder, then said, "C'mon, Grimm Reaper. I'll get you and Nora Hammer-time a bite to eat, my treat." With a glint of white as she bore her teeth at Ruby. The girl nodded and smiled back, and as the two walked inside, they saw Nora ahead, already eating pre-made Pancakes, while off to the side, Yang and her newly-acquired friend, Robert from JAMR, talked while eating. Yang waved to Ruby, smiling, then turned back to the chatter with Robert.

"Huh... Looks like your sister and Robbie, either hooked up, or she has the poor kid prisoner." Irene smirked, crossing her arms. "Tell me what ya want for chow, I'll go grab my and your trays and bring them to Pancake Overdrive's table." She motioned to Nora, who was devouring the tower of pancakes ahead of her... Something really physics-defying, a tower of pancakes that was like a Jenga, poorly settled into place and eve more poorly balanced. Ruby could only hope Nora'd finish them before they up-and-fell on anyone, starting a food fight like early-on in their time at Beacon, _BEFORE_ their transportation to Reach. She moved toward Nora and sat down ahead of her. The girl was eating, but she waved to Ruby, uttering out, through a mouthful of pancakes, a squeaky 'Hello'. Ruby couldn't help herself and laughed.

"Nora, please, swallow before you talk..." She said, then leaned on the table. "How's the UNSC Regulation pancakes? Different from Ren's?"

"Uhh..." Nora gulped down the whole pancake she had hanging off her mouth without even chewing, then shook her head and smiled. "These _are_ Ren's. The Cooks allowed me and him to make some for the whole camp."

"Uhh... Are those all of them?" Ruby asked, pointing at the tower. Nora shook her head.

"There's more in the fridges..." And the pink-wearing redhead dived again into her plate.

" _I'm scared to think how many you've made, Nora..."_ Ruby thought, smiling as she leaned on her hands, and yet again entered a deep thought mode. She leaned on the table, placing her face onto it and looked at her hands. The cold Titanium-A Plates with scratched paint on them, didn't bring much of an answer to Ruby's questions, rather only brought more of them if anything... She stood up and waved to Irene, who nodded then slung her plate of Pancakes over to the soldiers to put syrup onto it. Ruby headed for the barracks and entered it, to find Weiss playing with Zwei, while Blake, as per usual, hid atop her and Yang's bunk, staring at the dog.

"Oh, hello, Ruby." Weiss said, then picked Zwei up. "What's the matter? You look tired?"

"Uhh... I am..." Ruby answered, then sat down on her bed, throwing her helmet off to the side of the room. Her head slumped and fell onto the pillow. It was true, she hadn't slept for a week now, with nightmares of the Covies finding Remnant and burning it after she had seen video footage from a satellite as Harvest burned, then other planets, including Harmony, New Constantinople and the likes, add to that the covenant kills she had on her belt, all pretty brutal, she could only have nightmares and remorse, even though the aliens would've killed them all without such trivialities...

"Uhh..." Weiss sighed, then looked up to Blake "C'mon. Let's let our leader get some sleep. She's got a night op today..."

Damn it! Ruby forgot about that! She, Jonah and Jun'd go behind enemy lines at Nightfall! Oh, she'd had best fall asleep now... Thankfully.

She did...

...

Ruby's eyes blasted open. She jerked up from the bed, grabbed her helmet, slung it on her head and grabbed her SMGs, to which she had attached silencers just for this mission, then moved outside. It was just in time. Jonah waved her over to their Falcon and she nodded, strapping the SMGs to her back and feeling for Crescent Rose. Present. She ran and met up with Jonah and Jun, of whom the later slapped her on the pauldron, smiling. He slid his helmet on his shaved head, then got aboard the Falcon, which powered on. Ruby climbed aboard and strapped in, preparing for the insertion.

She strapped herself in, checked her ammo pouches, then looked ahead at Jun, and to her left, at Jonah. Both of them nodded to the girl, so she relaxed, then heard Jun talk.

"Just in time, Red. Thought you'd not be makin' it when Ice Queen told us how sleepy you were." He went on to reload his sniper. Ruby sighed, then nodded.

"Yeah, I was pretty sleepy, but now I'm a-okay!" She answered. Jonah tapped her on the shoulder and she cocked her head toward him, her HUD giving her his ID tag.

He opened up a TEAMCOM to Ruby and looked at her. She nodded.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked through the radio, just enough for Jun not to hear him. Ruby sighed, then nodded.

"I'm _fine_ , Jonah..." She turned her head toward the right, toward the outside of the Falcon. They were already away, ground, water and ice rushing below their feet as the vehicles ran away at high-speed from the base camps. She noticed forest below her and how the forests around began covering more and more patches of ground, until nothing remained but the forest canopy above. She sighed, then leaned back, preparing to rest for the ride... She and her friends have had it rough, most of the time...

A few hours later, Ruby found herself hiding in the shadows, as ahead, a Covenant Phantom buzzed about, its searchlights powered and pointing toward the Cliff's edge she was hiding behind. The moon of Reach was high in the sky and beside it, a large gas giant, its rings and blue surface visible from Reach during the night. She looked ahead as the Covie ship passed, then saw Jun stand up and signal both her and Jonah, who'd been hiding with her, to move out. The two crimson-armored Spartans stood up and Ruby unslung Crescent Rose, setting it to Rifle mode and cocking it.

The duo passed over a ridgeline, right at the edge of the cliff, backs against the wall, as they snuck up behind enemy lines. She'd heard of 'between a Rock and a Hard place'... What would be a good saying for her situation. 400 kilometers above sea-level(1000 more from the nearest medical center), back against a rock wall and one wrong move, she'd be a Huntress paste splattered against the grass in no-time. 'Between a Rock Face Wall and a Hard Drop'? No, That's ODST right there... She tossed that thought into the back of her mind for now, then kept on moving ahead. As they finished their 'balls-to-the-wall' move, ahead, Jun was stopped, waiting for them. Ruby stepped out of the way, onto solid ground, thankfully, and saw Jonah go on ahead. Jun handed him a magazine and nodded.

"High-Power, armor-piercing." He said in a silent whisper. "Will take the hat off an elite at three hundred yards. And they ain't cheap."

"Right." Jonah said, sliding it into his pouch. Jun took the top path, then signaled Jonah to move down with Ruby. He nodded and looked to Ruby, then jumped onto the slope, his metallic feet scratching hard against the granite rock, pushing it away. He landed, rolled, then dropped into a crouch as Ruby followed him quickly. The two sneaked ahead, behind the rocks and past several dead civilians with Assault Rifles and the likes next to them. Ruby slung Crescent Rose on her back, then grabbed an Assault Rifle off the floor, alongside an active camouflage ability. Jonah signaled her forward, then fell onto his stomach. Ahead, an Elite Minor was guarding the spot, back turned against Ruby and Jonah.

" _Elite overlooking the sleeping Grunts..."_ Jun whispered over com. " _Take him out, but do it quietly..."_

Jonah looked to Ruby and nodded, his expression inscrutable behind his visor, then stood up to his knees, signaled her to wait and clipped his knife off his breastplate, yanking it out and turning it around, blade pointing back and at the floor, then slowly moved toward the Elite, almost soundless, like the wind. Jonah's legs coiled and he jumped on the Elite's back. Ruby heard a wet crunch and a muffled cry as the Elite's throat was slit. Jonah dropped back, yanking it by the collar. It fell back with him and he hid it behind the grass, then wiped his knife on its helmet, and slung it back into place, clipping it back. Ruby stood up and walked toward Jonah, in a half-crouch. He nodded to her and then pointed at the grunts.

"You have the silent SMGs." He stated, sliding his sniper on his back, then removing his knife. "Each of us kills on their side. You take right, I take left. Meet you past this point."

"Gotcha..." Ruby stated, then the two jumped down. Quiet thumps as they landed, the two started sneaking again and Ruby slung one of her SMGs on her hip, holding the other one in her right hand. She slowly crawled toward the sleeping grunt ahead of her, a grunt 'Hero' class, then stood up. As she took aim through the ironsights of the SMG, she slightly hesitated on pulling the trigger. The grunt shivered, then yawned, scaring Ruby. She suppressed a scream, then sighed and looked at the Grunt. Placing the silencer on its head, she squeezed the trigger. A short patter and a wet crunch, then the alien fell dead. Ruby breathed in, then out and checked her Biomonitor on her HUD... Her heart was racing and that was about it for the poor Rose.

The girl kept on moving ahead and met up with Jonah, a few seconds later than she should have. He made a hand signal asking 'something wrong'? She shook her head, then kept moving parallel to him, until they reached another cliff edge and went on their stomachs. Up ahead, there was a small settlement. Beside them, Jun had finally gotten to them. Ruby heard him call Kat and Irene on Radio, but ignored what they were saying. Probably this place wasn't what they were searching for. Some form of Dark Zone, it was, where their electronics weren't working... Jonah already went loud, firing his sniper at a Spec-Op elite, its strange EVA-like bubble mask shattering into a million shards. It fell dead, slumped onto the ground. Ruby felt adrenaline rush through her as the Elite's blood trickled on the Grass... She giggled... The girl stood up, yanking Crescent Rose off her back, and extended the weapon, giggling strangely as her silver eyes shined for just a second...

She struck...

Three Elites and five Grunts split in half as they attempted to surround her, blood falling onto her armor. She jumped down and engaged at close range with Crescent Rose. She rolled and sliced forward, gutting an Elite and two Jackals, fired twice from the rifle and killed ten Grunts with a detonation from one of the gas tanks in the middle, then slung her blade yet again, decapitating an Elite. She sliced down and cut the Elite's head in half, then struck again. using the recoil of the gun-parts, she pushed herself ahead, giggling as she sliced another alien head-to-toe, splitting it in half, another Elite. Blood and gore covered the ground she was on, but she continued striking until sweat dripped down into her helmet from her forehead and even then, she removed the helmet, clipped it to her belt and continued to strike. Fluorescent ultramarine blood from grunts, purple-black blood from Skirmishers and Jackas and pure Purple from the Elites, she was covered head-to-toe in it, her hair soaked in blood, her face too.

She wasn't afraid anymore... She won't be afraid again... No, no she won't. Every scream will make her stronger, every bit of blood splattering onto her face will make her better, every alien she killed, one less threatening _her_! She wouldn't lose herself... She wouldn't lose her friends either, but most importantly, she'd stay alive to protect them... And she'd gut whomever stood in her way... _EVERYONE_ Who was in her path to her friends' safety would die... To _HER_ **SAFETY!** All she saw was RED! Red like roses! She didn't even hear herself laugh madly as she saw the pitiful monsters fall before her blade... EVERY! ONE! OF! **_THEM_!**

A hand clutched 'round Crescent Rose's blade...

Ruby's vision cleared, red fading, her eyes turning back to their silver of old. Ahead of her, Jonah was clutching Crescent Rose's blade tightly with both hands, blood trickling through his fingers. His helmet was on the floor and behind him, there was a little child. She couldn't have been any less than five, her weapon's large blade only an inch from her neck. Ruby's eyes widened in shock. Her heart fired like an Assault Rifle on full-automatic... She looked at Jonah hit the safety of Crescent Rose and saw it retract, then ran to his side as he clutched his hands, blood trickling through his fingers.

"Jonah!" She screamed, then felt his hand push her away before she could get close to help him. He wrapped bandages around his bleeding palms, then looked at her. She couldn't tell if it was anger or fear with which he stared at her, but he wasn't showing any emotion toward Ruby anymore. He was panting and covered in Elite blood... Due fact, Ruby was also covered by it... When she looked at herself, blood dripping from her armor and hair like she was a butcher house, she fell to her knees and screamed, unable to restrain it. Jonah looked to the 5-year-old clutching her teddy bear, then spoke to her in the local language, pointing back. She nodded, then ran off, tears in her eyes. Jonah turned back toward Ruby and watched her bawling her eyes out, snot and tears flowing down her blood-covered face.

"Ruby... You said you were okay..." Jonah inhaled, then exhaled, calming himself down. He walked to his helmet, picked it up and slid it back on his head. "I was yelling at you to stop before you killed the kid. She ran out like an idiot when she saw the Aliens dying, thought her dad had returned with his friends to save her..." He sighed, then tapped his com. "Recon-Actual, this is Recon-Bravo 3..." He sighed, then, looking at Ruby, he asked their CO "Kat... I'm gonna need a MEDEVAC For Ruby... Full psychiatric workup, armor locking device too... She's off the roster for now."

" _Denied."_ Kat answered, full of resolve, shocking both him and Jun. She explained the situation clearly " _Bringing a bird in that area would jeopardize the mission, alerting the Covenant to our intentions. You're gonna have to keep her with you for now, Lieutenant. Actual out."_

Jonah swore behind his breath, then looked to Ruby. He walked to her and took her weapons, holstering Crescent Rose on his back and grabbing her SMGs as well. He shook his head as he slung them on his hips. He removed her grenades from possession as well, then helped her up and wiped the blood off her face. He walked to a house wall and settled the crying, shocked girl down and knelt ahead of her. He tried to wipe away her tears, but she pushed his hand away and closed her knees to her chest, leaning her head and hands on them. She was in complete Combat Shock.

" _Six, I'd recommend you two start moving up... Covies started moving out ahead."_ Jun said. Jonah looked toward the Sniper's position and nodded.

"In a second, Jun..." he answered in a strange tone, full of grief, of fear maybe... Even of compassion, something he never thought he'd have in his voice. He walked to her, knelt ahead of her and took his helmet off. He placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, taking her gaze to him. She looked at him, through bloodshot, tear-covered eyes, full of fear. He pushed himself and smiled at her, placing a hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and let her head slump onto his hand as he wiped away both the blood and tears. She curled her lips inward, nothing more than a thin line over witch the tears just rolled in rivers. Jonah sighed at her wince, then stood up and signaled Jun to move ahead. The sniper shone his light green and left their HUDs. Jonah knelt ahead to Ruby again and looked her in the eye.

"Hey, Ruby." He said, trying to calm her down with his smiles. She shook her head.

"Get away from me Jonah..." She said, choked out from the crying. "I'm a monster..."

"Whatever happened to you..." Jonah shook his head, then helped her up by her hands, placing a hand on her cheek. "It was a momentary thing... You're under a lot of stress, ya haven't slept..." He wiped the tear about to trickle down her cheek from her right eye, then smiled at her. "And most importantly, you aren't home, Ruby... That does things to people..."

Ruby pushed herself onto his shoulder, crying. He ran his gauntleted hand through her bloodied hair, wiping the blood off as he held her close. He whispered a song to her that, somehow, calmed her down. She pushed away from his shoulder, their eyes catching one another. The two locked glances for a good minute, in which Jonah smiled at her, then nodded and handed her her SMGs and Crescent Rose.

"I trust you, okay? This is a sign of that. Don't do anything stupid..." He stated, receiving a nod from Ruby. She stood up and walked to her scout helmet. Full of blood. She sighed, leaned down and grasped it. She looked at her chest, a blood mark left by Jonah on her chest... She had a mark.. Alien blood coagulated onto her armor, flash-drying thanks to her shield. She looked at the mark into the visor of the helmet, reflecting it... Aside from the blood on her face, which now seemed like a war paint, that mark made her seem like a badass... She knew for sure Yang would probably enoy seeing her like this... She slid her helmet back on her head and inside, it reeked of alien blood, but the air scrubbers instantly cleaned it.

Heh... She _knew_ now that she was a badass... Guess _Kanji_ applied to her now in the good way. She sighed, dropping that thought, and grabbed her submachineguns. The two moved on ahead, together. Ruby ran ahead, then noticed another Covie Camp. She gave a nod to Jonah, who moved ahead and eliminated the targets safely with his sniper. The trio, now reunited, moved ahead down a path. They reloaded their weapons as they crossed under the canyon and mountaintops, a perfect place for an ambush. Several chemlights were on the floor and more dead Militiamen were on the ground. Ruby slung her SMGs back on her hips and grabbed an Assault Rifle and the ammo for it from the dead man, whispering a prayer taught to her by Jonah. She cocked the bolt and heard a round feed into the chamber. She nodded, then continued advancing with the others...

Ahead, a pair of strange, giant animals engaged Covenant Forces, completely squashing a Grunt under their giant feet. The things had white Fur, large tusks on their mouths and large fang-like teeth stuck within their mouths. They were like massive monkeys, almost gorilla-like in nature. An elite, even, fell, struck down by their sword-like claws on their elongated hands. Ruby gasped upon sighting them and couldn't help but draw Crescent Rose, cocking the bolt. As the two giant things finished the Covies, they noticed the pair and charged toward them. Ruby could barely move after she dodged a strike from the creature. She shot with Crescent Rose, tearing a hole right through the alien thing's chest.

"This is gonna be a long fucking night..." Jun said, shooting through the second one's head three times with the sniper. Ruby nodded as the creature fell, slung the sniper on her back and grabbed her dual Submachineguns, then moved ahead of the pack. As they finished down the path, up ahead of them, there was a pumping station linked to the nearby river. On it, they saw several men, armed with UNSC Weaponry, engaging Covenant gunships on the attack. Jonah and Jun moved on ahead, their Snipers beading off and blasting through the Covies' first wave, two Elites falling dead, blood, brain matter and bone spurting from the holes drilled in their heads by the sniper rifles.

She felt something overcome her again... But this time... It was odd... _Peaceful..._

She yanked Crescent Rose off her back and readied it, extending it yet again into Scythe Form. Jonah looked back and showed Emile to stay calm. The girl's legs took steps forward, calm, relaxed, almost unable to feel pain, sorrow... She was in a peace of mind, strangely... As she walked forward, a dream she remembered all too well appeared ahead of her... The forest on Patch... The snow that had fallen below her feet when she was returning from her mother's grave and... The Lesser Grimm... The Lesser Grimm took the place of the covies. Ruby nodded, then took her stance with Crescent Rose, remembering she still had allies with her...

As a Lesser Beowulf charged toward her, she dodged, then jumped up into the sky and charged Crescent Rose's shot. With a blast, she took out the alien, then turned back to see that, behind her, Jonah and Jun were also engaging. She snapped out of that trance again, before it sent her into another rampage, ducked from a Covenant's rifle swing and unloaded a full SMG Clip into his gut. A shot from a sniper gunned down a second spec-ops elite, headshot, and Ruby could finally focus. She saw Jonah fire again and blast a Grunt's head off, then turned and opened fire with her Submachineguns, slinging Crescent Rose on her back. More aliens, more kills for the count. Their second Phantom wave arrived and she saw a man with a Rocket Launcher fire toward it. He struck one of the open sides of the dropship, spraying shrapnel inside. The Grunts fell dead, but the Elites survived, dropping out as merely two. She ran ahead, slid below one, on her back and fired upward, between its legs, each shot in the clips connecting. It fell dead with a shrieking howl and, as Ruby reloaded, she slid to a halt, panting.

As she met up with Jonah and Jun in the middle of the plant, ahead, she could see a pair of weapons boxes and grinned.

"Oh, what're you gonna do, arrest me?" Inquired the leader of the Militia, crossing his arms.

"No." Jun answered, probably grinning behind his helmet. "I'm gonna steal it back."

Ruby knelt beside one of the weapon boxes and grabbed a Designated Marksman Rifle... She had a thought she might need something more long-range. She nodded and slung it on her back, then looked to Jonah. He nodded to her and reloaded his sniper. The squad, now adding the militiamen, kept moving, Ruby in the far back with her DMR. They took cover as a Covie ship passed overhead, another Searchlight Phantom. She cocked the DMR, then they continued to move, under the cover of night. Ahead, just as they exited the path, they saw something pulsating... A Covenant Pylon... Their target. Ruby grinned as she saw the ETs around and showed everyone to stay back.

"Hand me the charge." She said, looking at Jun. "I got an idea of where to place it."

Jun nodded, the yanked the charge off his belt and handed it to Ruby. He couldn't help himself and asked, "How are you gonna deal with the Covies?"

"Oh." Ruby smirked. "Got an idea. How well can you scope in a Hunter's 'head'?"

"Fast enough..." Jun realized. "Oh, hell no. You want us to distract them for you?"

"She's ballsier than most people I've met, I'll give her that." Jonah smirked behind his helmet. He crouched beside a rock and slid his sniper into place. "C'mon everyone. Set up."

"You have to be kidding me..." Jun muttered, then went and set up too. "Alright, Rose." He looked to her and gave her a thumbs up. "Give'em hell, One Woman Army."

Ruby nodded, removed her helmet and started walking toward the bridge, the helmet slung on her hip belt. She strode down the bridge, taking the Covenant's eyes toward her. The Hunter pair turned to face heir, their back antennae shaking. Ruby heard the subtle growls of the Elites, the high-pitched squeals of the grunts, the squawks of the sniper Jackals set up atop the Pylon and even the subsonic speaking of the Hunters ahead.

"Heya boys." She smirked, crossing her arms. "'s the matter? Worried? C'mon, I'm one Spartan kid. Can't do anything to you... Well... Nothing meaningless..." She primed a grenade and readied herself to pull the safety pin, locking eyes with an Elite Major. Her heart raced as the Elite stood ten feet from her on the bridge, its weapon not drawn, the Hunter pair side-by-side on the bridge's edges, and it spoke in perfect, Fluent english.

"What is it you desire here, _Demon_?" It asked, the last word full of Venom.

"Heh... So you speak proper language, not just gibberish..." The girl smirked, lowering her arms parallel to her body "As to what I want... Humm... That you get the heck off my planet." She answered, clicking her SMGs off her hips. "But I can see that ain't gonna happen, since you started making yourselves at home... So, let's put it this way..."

A sniper shot rang out, nailing the right-side Hunter through the top of its head. The creature fell over the edge of the bridge and ran down with the small river below, falling into the abyss at the side of the cliff. Its blood brother roared in anger, then a small whirr was heard as it charged its Fuel Rod Gun... It fell seconds later too, right into the water as well. Ruby grinned, her eyes shining silver.

"We'll kill every single one of you, till all that's left to fight us is your Gods themselves!" She snapped, pointing her SMGs toward the Grunts. They pattered and the creatures fell, but the Elite drew its sword. It rushed toward Ruby, its shields flaring from the constant patter of Ruby's SMGs. She rolled as the alien sliced past her feet, then struck it with a fist to the mouth. She kicked up, breaking its right jaws, then kicked and punched in the stomach region, continuous strikes. As it tried to attack, her instincts kicked in, she grabbed its sword hand, twisted it and yanked the Energy Sword out of its hand and stabbed it. It fell dead, not even roaring, then Ruby nodded to the others, slinging her helmet back on her head, and ran toward the Pylon. She grabbed the charge and placed it right at the power source of the Pylon, inconspicuous enough not to be seen.

"Recon Bravo-3 to NOBLE TWO..." Ruby whispered over the COM. "Charge placed."

" _Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope._ " Kat asked. Ruby nodded.

"Yep. Stuck it right at the power supply of the Pylon." Ruby answered, looking toward their way out. "Sending Det codes now. There's a gate we may need to pass too."

 _"Copy all."_ Kat said happily. " _Sending Security Codes. Glad to know you're alright, Ruby."_

"Yeah... Same." Ruby nodded. Jonah walked to her side and patted her on the shoulder, nodding, and they advanced toward the gate. Another encounter later, the trio crawled over a cliff's edge... The first thing that jumped into Ruby's eye was a Covenant TYRANT AA Gun, the Plasma-firing thing that could easily knock a UNSC Ship out of the sky, while ahead, purple-blueish-white lightning shined in the distance... Three Covenant Corvette's were patrolling high above and around it. Ruby took her helmet off and pulled out a live-feed Camera.

"Sending feed to Kat..." She said, linking to whatever Kat was using to see this.

"Jesus Christ..." Jonah whispered, zooming in with his scope. "She receiving this?"

" _Copy that... Receiving Noble Three, Six and Ten's visual of a Covenant Strike Force."_ Kat said, seemingly Calm.

"This ain't no strike Force..." Ruby said, looking to both of her comrades.

"It's a god damn invading Army..."Jun added, examining the Covenant Contingent "If we're gonna smother this thing, we're gonna need to move hard and fast."

 _"Agreed..."_ Kat answered. " _All Recon Teams, disengage... I have a feeling we'll have a really busy day tomorrow."_

"You can say that again." Jonah mused as they moved back to their evacuation vehicles.


	6. Tip of the Spear Part 1

**_AN:I Couldn't wait for this chapter! ONTO THE BATTLE OF VIERY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! LET'S GIVE THE COVENANT HELL!_**

 ** _En-route to Viery desert Covenant Landing Zone, designation SIGMA ONE, Planet Reach._**

 ** _12th of August 2552 UNSC Standard Military Calendar._**

 _"It appears that Noble Team's discovery last night was not an anomaly. Large Covenant deployments have occurred undetected, and we are now under attack across the Viery territory, including orbital defenses. As per the Winter Contingency, we are countering on every front. Noble's reconnaissance has also identified sophisticated Covenant army hiding canopies, and has been pinpointed what's believed to be a landing zone for additional Covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined."_ Auntie Dot, NOBLE's AI Said, pinning images from Sattellites onto her system.

Operation TIP OF THE SPEAR Had begun. Ruby was in the front with Six and Two, aboard one of the many hundreds of Warthogs making a run for the Covenant Landing Zone. As they skimmed across the desert fields, Ruby could see other hogs from the machinegun of the one she was aboard, alongside hundreds of mongooses and Scorpion Main Battle Tanks. Above her, Carter and the rest of JAMR Overlooked the deployment. Driving the hog was Kat. In the lead of the Formation, Ruby couldn't help but feel exposed as hell, but she was the gunner, she had to remember what the hell her job was. Shooting covies and shootin'em good!

" _That Landing Zone has been tagged by UNSC Command as a Priority-One target!"_ Carter said through com, looking down at the advancing vehicles.

"Det Charge link is Loud and Clear!" Ruby yelled, overlooking the data streaming onto her Heads-Up display from the Charge she had placed last night. She was worried about its detonation procedures not working, then looked at Kat as she yanked out the Detonator, all whilst driving. Ruby grinned "Time to bake that cake we made last night, eh?"

"Copy that!" The woman yelled, nodding to Ruby. "Acquiring Signal Lock on the Pylon!" And the thing showed up on top of the hill they had been on mere hours ago. "Detonating in three, two..." And the damned Pylon went up in a heap of flames and smoke, collapsing in on itself as the power source flared bright-silver, then a bloody, crimson red and shattered. Ruby turned her head as ahead, Plasma Fire streaked across. Ruby could hear the thunder of Banshee plasma cannons firing at them in full effect. Plasma Boulders flung from Wraith mortar fire arched in the air, then struck down hard, detonating one of the front Warthogs, just ahead of Kat, Jonah and Ruby. The Red girl didn't waste no time in turning the Turret and opening fire. The chaingun rotated, then bullet struck Covenant Alloy and shielding, gutting through the armor of one flier and sending it tumbling down to the ground, but to no avail. Hundreds more fired.

The bridge ahead of the team shattered due to a plasma boulder, a vehicle blowing apart on it. Ruby felt the heat as they prepared to jump over the vehicle. She heard Kat yell a resounding " _HANG ON!"_ as she drove the Hog up and over the broken bridge. Ruby saw hard concrete approaching fast, then saw stars... Seconds later, the girl's ears were ringing. She felt someone tugging at her arm, then, when she looked up, she saw it was Kat, holding her behind cover of the Warthog, which had been completely destroyed. The girl's ears were ringing, but ahead of her, she saw Jonah firing toward the Covies with his One-barrel Grenade Launcher. The girl started hearing Kat call out to her, a blurry voice.

" _Red?! Red!"_ And her voice finally cleared. "Red, are you alright?!"

"Uhh..." Ruby groaned, then slung her helmet back on her head. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm good!" She felt for Crescent Rose. Still on her back, good... But she yanked her MA37K off her back instead and moved next to Kat. "What the heck's going on?" She demanded, then peeked out and opened fire with her Assault Rifle, peppering the grounds ahead. Two Grunts fell dead by the low sweep of the AR.

"Shade turret up on the hill!" Jonah answered, then fired another Grenade with a quiet thud. "This one's got a Fuel Rod Cannon on its nose instead of the basic Plasma!"

"Great..." Ruby mumbled to herself "Just Great..." She looked ahead, to see someone already engaging the Covenant. Irene was ahead, fighting two Elites in close quarters, a shotgun out and at the ready. The girl fired from her pistol twice, twice did she hit. She turned to Ruby and gave her a thumbs up, then elwbowed a Covenant Lieutenant right in the throat. The creature stumbled back, its shields dead, and Irene blasted it with the pistol through the head. Ruby nodded, then looked to Kat. "This is gonna be a long day... Won't it?"

"Oh, you bet..." Kat added, nodding to her.

* * *

 _ **Other part of Viery.**_

 _Deployment_... Not a word Jaune particularly enjoyed.

Word had gotten around of a certain type of creatures that the teams of Remnant knew too well, so now, team JNPR was being deployed with the famous Spartan-II Team, Blue. Jaune looked to his right, to sight the four Spartans of Blue team, Kelly-087, Linda-058, Grace-093 and finally, their leader, and probably the luckiest of them all, John-117, loading their weapons and preparing for hot insertion. John, also known as the Master Chief or just Chief for short, turned to Jaune and his team, shouldering his Assault rifle from the back of the Pelican VTOL Gunship. He cued his mic.

"Anything we should particularly know about our next deployment, Sergeant Ark?" The Chief asked in a calm voice. Jaune nodded.

"Yessir... If rumors are true... Which I hope to god that it ain't the case... There's a Nest here... And our darkest enemy from back home, the _Grimm_ , banes of human and Faunus alike, are down there..." The boy said, shuddering at the thought of Grimm groundside. They'd had it bad enough with the Covenant striking them across every front on Viery without the GRIMM knocking at the UNSC's door now. If they didn't take care of this nest, Jaune knew it'd spread, so did his teammates. This was their one and only chance on knocking out a two-sided threat.

"Copy all." Chief said, then flicked the safety off his MA37K. He stood up and scanned the bird's loading bay, then nodded to his teammates. "Alright, Spartans. You all heard Ark's call on the threat. They've fought them be fore so-" The Pelican shuddered.

" _We're taking fire, Chief! Not Covenant! It's some form of black birds with crested skull helmets!"_ The pilot cried, diving and banking to evade the incoming attack. Pyrrha gasped upon hearing the scream of the Raven-like creatures known as Nevermores and looked back out of the hatch of the aircraft. There they were. Large bird-like creatures, with a thick bone plate over their heads, their eyes shining red.

"Nevermores..." Pyrrha said, then looked to Chief "Master Chief, sir! We need to land this VTOL before getting knocked out of the sky!"

A feather-like quill implanted into one of the aircraft's portside engines. It billowed smoke, then the aircraft slowly started to tilt and the Chief looked to his team-mates and barked "Override Gel seals on the armor! Prepare for a hard jump, Spartans!" He cued his mic to the pilot "Flight Officer, get this bird out of here the moment we're off of it!" And he turned to the back hatch, popping it open with a slam of his fist. He hit the button again and the door snapped off with a thud, smacking against one of the Nevermores.

"Forgive me for the inquiry, Master Chief, sir!" Ren said, slinging his helmet on his head, then turning to the Chief. "But did you say _JUMP_?!"

John nodded.

"Great..." Jaune swallowed, then slid his helmet back on his head too and locked it in place. "Uhh... Can't the Flight Officer land it and then we-" He felt Nora shove him from behind and the Spartans jumped from 500 feet up into the open air. Below them, ground was rapidly approaching and Jaune heard the transport bank away and the squawks of the bird-like Grimm just above them. They turned with the aircraft and Jaune sighed. He overpressurized his Ballistic Gel layer just in time, as they smacked dead into the bleeding ground. He heard a thud, then turned on his back and saw the others land around him. He snapped up, grabbed his MA5B and looked around him as his team-mates landed on their feet... Mostly...

He heard Pyrrha's gun fire and he turned to the right. He gasped upon sighting Grimm Creeps charging toward her and the Chief, who had his Assault Rifle already firing toward the creatures. Ahead of him, beowolves charged at top speed, roaring as they flexed their claw-covered hands toward them. Jaune dodged as a claw strike nearly struck him, then pressed the gun against the Creature's back and fired. The rifle roared and black gunk spilled onto the ground. The blonde yanked his sword off his belt and, with a roar, he swung left across the creature's back, splitting its body in half.

Nora's grenades flew off in the distance in rows of five, striking what Jaune could only see. Pyrrha turned toward Jaune and nodded, then he heard a sniper shot whizz past his ear. He turned left to see Linda in position. She knocked a last grimm out of the fight, then grabbed her sniper and rolled down to Jaune and Pyrrha, firing from two Dual SMGs she had with her. She rolled into position beside Jaune and then threw a frag.

"Any advice toward engaging these things?" Fred inquired, snapping his Rifle for a target. It chattered and the Beowulf fell, bullets stuck to its hard bone shell. Jaune gulped and looked at the Grimm emerge from their nest and nodded, then swallowed and said "Keep them away from you! Aura's not a thing for you guys, so we can't engage in CQC!"

"Copy that!" The Spartans chorused as the Assault Rifles and weapons pattered.

* * *

"What?!" Ruby barked into her radio, taking cover behind one of the rocks beside one of the massive Tyrant AA Guns as Wraiths laid fire down on her position using Mortars. Jaune was on-radio, reporting something she didn't want to hear. "Jaune, Repeat your last!" She demanded, peeking out of cover and firing at a pair of snipers on the rooftop. Shots sparked off the alien alloy and one bounced into a Jackal Skirmisher's skull, killing it.

" _You heard me, Ruby!"_ Jaune answered, his voice muffled by static and the hail of gunfire " _We got a Grimm nest at our location! Can confirm what Auntie Dot saw! Whole lot of Grimm engaging us, from the Creeps to their damned Nevermores! I oughta tell you to be careful, but I think you know that! I saw a pair of Nevermores break off from the main defense force, they were headed east!"_ Gunfire washed over Jaune's voice " _This is Noble Fourteen, over and out!"_

Jonah joined Ruby behind the stone, snapping his sniper to meet incoming plasma fire from a Covie plasma turret on the high-rise. He looked to the girl hoist up a fragmentation grenade and throw it over her cover. Fire roared as shrapnel and the concussive wave tore through the aliens. A Jackal's body fell face-first next to Ruby, its lower, bird-like jaw missing. Jonah peeked and shot, the roar of his sniper deafening a second grenade's blast. Another alien fell dead, then he looked to her.

"What did Jaune say?!" Jonah barked, reloading his rifle. Ruby shook her head, then looked to him.

"You remember where we come from?" Ruby inquired, reloading her Assault Rifle. Jonah nodded, staring at her through his visor. She sighed, then said "Well, the things WE were fighting back home, the Grimm, are HERE, NOW. JNPR and the Spartans of Blue Team just encountered then!"

"For f..." Jonah promptly caught himself and ducked in cover as plasma boiled and chipped away at the rock he and Ruby were hiding behind. One of the Marines that had arrived to reinforce them caught a large bolt of plasma right in his face and the head vaporized, leaving but a cauterized stub of a neck where the head was. The other two who joined them jumped out of the way of a Plasma boulder and Ruby heard one of them, a Corporal, swearing as he snapped his MA37, firing wildly at the grunts. Jonah scoped in the Wraith that pinned them with its large Plasma Mortar, then squeezed the trigger four times, bursting its armor on the front. It redirected its cannon toward them and the mortar angled at 60 degrees now. With a squeeze of the trigger, the rock Ruby and Jonah bubbled and flash-vaporized as the two Spartans jumped onto their stomachs, out of the way of the explosion.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, WILL SOMEONE DEAL WITH THAT WRAITH?!" Kat barked, firing from her pistol.

A Rocket Hog advanced and stopped right behind the Covenant tank. Rockets locked on and the Marine aboard it grinned. She flicked the buttons and all six rockets launched and struck, setting the enemy tank ablaze. Three UNSC Ground Army troopers jumped out of the 'Hog, then advanced toward the Tyrant AA Gun, joined by Robert and Yang, who had arrived on foot earlier. The Spartan and his Huntress comrade ran in, carrying enough C4 Plastic Explosive to level the entire fucking place. Ruby peeked out of cover, withdrew crescent Rose from her back and scoped in a target, an Elite, advancing toward Jonah, its sword drawn. The girl squeezed the trigger and the high-caliber shell burst through the shields and tore the thing's helmet clean off his head and half of it with the thing.

"Elite down!" The girl called, then ran beside Jonah, holstering Crescent Rose and drawing her Assault Rifle. She took a knee beside Jonah, shouldered the rifle properly, then opened fire as a squadron of Grunts advanced toward them. The diminutive aliens fell, torn by the AP Rounds of the Assault Rifles. Beside her, a Soldier ran up with her DMR, went prone and opened fire, eyes aimed down the rifle's scope. Tracers flew off, followed by AP Rounds that immediately burst a grunt's head wide open. Thankfully, before the bastards could drop more reinforcements, the AA Gun burst into flames as its plasma conduits detonated. Ruby could see Yang and Robert running out of the place, Yang's Ember Celica extended. The girl launched herself off a rock and sent a few shells down-range, before landing and rolling next to Ruby.

"AA Gun's down, Sis." Stated the girl, cocking her shotgun gauntlets with a wide grin behind her helmet and a prideful stride to her movement. Robert followed suite, joining them after launching three explosive grenades at the now-retreating Covie grunts. The rounds detonated in the air and multiple smaller explosions blossomed onto the ground. Cluster grenades. Ruby'd heard of the guys at RnD Developing them for the squad's Grenade Launcher-wielding pair.

"Yang, Jaune just called." Stated Ruby as everyone rushed and boarded a Warthog. She looked to Jonah and Kat communicating with the Frigates high above and the group immediately turned their eyes to the UNSC Frigate pair in the air. Tracer rounds and high-caliber rounds tore at the grounds and at the enemy aircraft in the area after the strike. The UNSC _Grafton_ was leading the attack today, with their central command aboard said Frigate. From the far back of the canyon, two Longswords appeared, flying in fast, and dropped their payload on a pair of Covenant Armored Battle Platforms, the Scarabs, making quite a fireworks show out of it. Robert cheered, followed by Yang, as the group advanced.

Warned by Carter about the forward outpost ahead, the BXR Mining Operations base that had been turned into a Covie stronghold and the Elite Zealot, their newest target, the squad disembarked as they arrived there, carrying their weapons and advancing in quick pacing to join the Army Troopers, who were pushing across the bridge. Robbie grabbed his AR and joined the soldiers in the assault, while Jonah and Ruby provided Sniper Support and Yang advanced ahead, using her Shotguns' mobility-enhancement to get behind the bastards.

Ruby sighed, slung her sniper on her back, then started walking toward the bridge, much to Jonah's awe. She cracked her knuckles and, as she reached the bridge and walked past Yang, Robert and the Army Soldiers, plasma sizzled past her ears, impacting the concrete bridge and melting it. It awed the Covenant a bit how much this one young woman wanted to die or win. She walked onward as the bastards kept firing, their aim, nonexistent. She grinned behind her mask, then, as the Covenant finally managed to get their shit together from her walking toward them, no weapon in her hand, she jumped up into the sky, leaving rose petals where she was, then she immediately vanished from the spot and planted a boot right in an Elite's helmet, shattering the shields, helmet, and the fucker's skull. She snapped his neck with her boot, then looked at the other Elite Minors charging at her.

"Heh." She said, shocking even the soldiers and her sister. She vanished again as they brought their arms down to where she'd last been, planted a fist right up an Elite's open mouth, making him reel back, kicked him in the stomach, breaking his ribs, then grabbed and twisted his weapon arm and activated one of his plasma grenades, then kicked him toward his comrades. The plasma burned and killed the alien bastard, disabling the others' shields. Withdrawing her knife from its sheath and readying it, she charged ahead and planted the knife right up an Elite's throat, tore him apart and stabbed a second one through the forehead, threw him aside, sheathed her knife, teleported up into the air, then moved beside Yang, looked at her and barked "C'mon, Sis! Pick your jaw up and help me here!" then she lunged at the bastards, cocking her fist back and plunging it into another Elite's gut, sending him flying back.


End file.
